


From Your Stars to Mine

by Fiirea



Category: Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: F/M, Optimus prime/human character, slow burn of an ancient war god and a scholar, two dense nerds who need to realize they like each other, what happens when the quiet one turns into mama bear
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-16
Updated: 2020-12-21
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:27:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 17
Words: 87,837
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26487916
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fiirea/pseuds/Fiirea
Summary: Kayden always dreamed of flying and her first steps towards take off put her right in the middle of an ancient war dragged out all the way to her planet. She offers her help to the Autobot cause and in turn her horizon is opened even more by Optimus Prime who teaches her that there is more to the world, than her own stars.
Relationships: Optimus Prime/Original Character(s), Optimus Prime/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 11
Kudos: 74





	1. Scorpions in the Closet

**Author's Note:**

> For story purposes, some political aspects and names of actual locations may be used. Not all information stated will be correct as it is altered to fit the point of the story.  
> Meaning any names or places stated in this story have nothing to do with real life people or places.

Optimus Prime's optics studied the new human as she stood on the platform that the other children had taken over. She was leaning against the railing, her back to him as she listened to Agent Fowler explain what she had just gotten herself in to. Though the events leading to her appearance at the Autobot base had not been her fault— an encounter with Starscream had resulted in the destruction of her home. A home the woman had been in at the time that the Seeker fell aft first onto. Optimus thanked Primus that she had been in the other part of it when it came down and seemed to have come out with what humans called 'bumps and bruises'. From where he stood, Optimus could see the discolored marks on the skin of her arms that were crossed loosely in front of her. She didn't seem to mind them, though she'd occasionally poke one near her servo. According to Jack, these bruises can hurt quite a bit and Optimus wondered why humans seemed to enjoy messing with them, a trait he'd witnessed Miko do a few times herself.  
A sigh from Agent Fowler and the woman shuffling her feet caused Optimus to remember the situation in front of him. With the fact that a civilian home was destroyed, Agent Fowler had taken priority in righting the situation that had occurred. Optimus had yet to even introduce himself and Ratchet, who had been doing his best to ignore the new human. He had begun to mutter about another annoyance but decided that focusing on the project in front of him was more important.  
"Alright Prime, this one is all yours now. Give her your speech and try not to destroy anymore houses while you're at it." Agent Fowler said, a scowl on his face that reminded Optimus of the secretaries of Iacon whenever they were given a tedious workload.  
"You have my thanks, Agent Fowler." Optimus stated, taking a step closer to the platform. "We will do our best to remain more vigilant of human housing that could be in remote areas."  
"That’s all I could ask." Agent Fowler said. He turned to the woman whose eyes were focused on Optimus Prime. "This is Kayden Fort, she's twenty-two which makes her an adult in our society though it’s safe to call her a child still." Fowler smirked with the last sentence and the only sign that Kayden was offended at being called a child was a slight quirk of her eyebrow.  
Optimus had seen many humans, but Kayden's face gave little away in what she wasthinking. She wasn't emotionless, Optimus had seen bots like that before. No, Kayden appeared to be in a peaceful state of either not being aware of her surroundings or simply not caring. Her green optics seemed to look through everyone around her, as if she was seeing something others couldn't. Unlike the other humans in Jasper, Nevada her skin was pale and she had light brown hair that fell across her face each time she turned her head to take in the base. The white fabric of her armor fluttered to her waist and she wore black boots.  
"Kayden, I wish to express my sincere apologies for the destruction of your home." Optimus began, catching the woman's attention. Now her optics focused on him, her head tilting slightly. "As the leader of the Autobots, I take full responsibility."  
Kayden stared up at the robot in front of her, silently contemplating the situation that was developing in front of her. Before moving out to Nevada from DC, her friend had joked about getting abducted by aliens. Jasper was certainly a perfect setting for such an extraterrestrial event but unlike the green martians that Hollywood seemed to enjoy producing, she meets metal giants with a very… humble leader.  
Kayden shook her head slightly and let her hands grip at the railing. "You have no reason to apologize. It was an accident." She stated, her voice soft and quiet, so quiet that Optimus had to turn up his auditory receptor to make out what she was saying. After being introduced to the children, particularly Miko, he had not believed that a human could speak so softly. "You also made sure I was alright and prevented the other one from attacking me."  
The small human looked up at Optimus, her face showed no anger, no annoyance or agitation, not even sadness from losing her house. It surprised Optimus, just at how little this human was affected by her world being turned upside down by them. "Thank you for helping me." Kayden finished.  
Optimus remained silent, ex-venting slowly as he thought about how to process her words. He still felt guilt at the destruction of her home and though Agent Fowler was intending to compensate for it, he felt that he did not deserve the forgiveness that this human was offering him. This time, Optimus shook his helm and looked down at Kayden, his optics focusing on her and he wondered how she would react to his next words.  
"I cannot accept your forgiveness. Though an accident, you have regretfully now been dragged into our war." Optimus stated. Kayden raised an eyebrow and her eyes seemed to beg for Optimus to continue. So he did. "On our home planet of Cybertron, a war has raged for millions of years. This war has left our planet uninhabitable and so we were given no choice but to flee. During that time, it was discovered that large quantities of Energon, our lifeblood, exists here on your planet. The Decepticons, our enemies in this war, intend to take over this planet and turn it into a new Cybertron while we, the Autobots wish to protect this planet from the Decepticons."  
Kayden took in the information slowly. She brought her index finger to her lip as she went over the reality that was unfolding before her. A reality that she had always considered impossible in the back of her mind, despite enjoying such stories personally. Her eyes became unfocused as thousands of questions passed through her brain. After what felt like an hour, she looked back up to Optimus Prime.  
"It’s safe to assume that the American Government has been helping you stay hidden?" She asked.  
"Agent Fowler has been assisting us in making things appear under the radar as we believe it is best if your planet did not know of the threat the Decepticons are." Optimus said. "The reason we ask that you stay here is because Starscream saw you and will use you against us."  
"You don't want to involve humans as much as possible." Kayden said, more to herself than to Optimus, but the mech nodded in agreement.  
Kayden remained silent again, her eyes focusing on something that Optimus could not comprehend and he began to wonder how she would take it. The children had been mostly okay with what they had been dragged into but he had also been informed that human children are much less cautious in regards to events like these. Something that they had learned the hard way when they boldly snuck into a Decepticon battle field. Though Agent Fowler referred to Kayden as an adult, she was quite young in human society, so he hoped that she would not outright reject them.  
"Being that it’s my planet in danger, I want to help." Kayden declared, snapping Optimus from his thoughts. He studied the face of the human in front of him and found nothing but honesty. She sincerely wanted to aid in their war.  
"Thank you for the offer, Kayden, but I do not believe that you could help in this fight." Optimus stated rather bluntly.  
"Maybe not in a fight, but war isn’t just about the battlefield." Kayden stated. "I’m going to assume that you don’t know much about Earth culture and so there are probably things you'd need help understanding."  
"That… is true." Optimus admits. He feels his shoulders relax slightly as he places a servo on his hips and taps his faceplate with the other. "We have realized that your kind are quite innovated in certain situations."  
Kayden nodded and leaned against the railing. Her arms were crossed as she spoke. "I know that I can’t do much, but since my planet is at risk, I want to do something."  
"Your bravery is commendable though I do hope that you refrain from placing yourself in dangerous situations." Optimus stated. He had nearly felt his spark leap from his chassis when he learned that the children had not only boarded Nemisis but also encountered Vehicons on their own. The natives of this planet were stubborn and bold but ultimately small and easily… squished. Thankfully it seemed that their newest human ally was level headed, if not responsible. Optimus only hoped that Kayden may be of influence on at least one of the others.  
"May I ask a favor though, in return for helping?" Kayden requested, looking a bit sheepish as she entangled her fingers together.  
"Here we go." Ratchet scoffed, never looking up. He had been surprisingly quiet during their talk.  
"That would depend on what you wish to ask." Optimus explained.  
"Would you teach me about Cybertron?" Kayden asked without missing a beat. Even Ratchet looked at the new human in mild surprise.  
"You wish to learn about our planet?" Optimus asked cautiously, wanting to understand the meaning of Kayden's words.  
"Yes." Kayden stated, nodding her head. "I'm currently still working on my thesis, but I'm aiming to be a scholar. Learning about a society and culture of another planet is something no one has ever done."  
Optimus could not help but notice how Kayden's eyes began to shine as she spoke. An eagerness and curiosity almost seemed to be emitted from the human and he almost saw a reflection of Orion Pax behind her. The innocent desire to learn about their planet, it was something that even he could not reject.  
"I believe we can do that." Optimud stated, a small smile growing on his features.  
Kayden clenched her fists in excitement at getting the okay and gave Optimus a small smile. "Thank you!"

***

Kayden sat patiently on the couch that had been provided for the humans of the team. She had made a request to return to her home and scavenge for what was left and though Optimis agreed, he wished to wait until the rest of the team had arrived so that they could meet Kayden and understand what was to take place. Optimus had explained that each of the children had been given a member of the team to be their guardian and that they were currently returning from school.  
Kayden had admittedly forgotten that it was a week day. Working on her thesis and dealing with college in general had caused her to lose track of not just the time but also the days. Though she had the luxury of studying from home, a reason she came to such a remote location of the Midwest, she still had assignments and progress reports to finish. All of which were currently buried under the collapsed rubble of her father's 'vacation house'.  
The silence of the base was abruptly shattered as the sound of several motors tore through it and three excited children began to chatter. Kayden leaned over the edge of the railing and caught sight of the three kids that Optimus had informed her of. The girl with pink tips caught her attention first, then the tall lanky boy and finally the small, bespectacled boy who seemed to be too young to be taking part in an alien war. Her attention was drawn back to the three new robots that stood up and greeted Optimus. All three were smaller in height compared to their leader, even the one that appeared much larger stood over a head shorter and it clearly emphasized just how large Optimus truly was.  
"Stranger alert!" A girl's voice called and Kayden turned towards the stairs where the three children had finally spotted her. The girl with pink tips was pointing at her, one hand on her hip and a scowl that said she'd jump Kayden if she had to.  
The small boy was somewhat hiding behind the older boy who looked up at Optimus for answers. As the large robot approached the platform, Kayden gave a small wave to the youngest who returned it shyly.  
"This is Kayden, due to some unfortunate circumstances, she will be joining Team Prime." Optimus told them.  
"What unfortunate circumstances?" The girl asked, eyeing Kayden who stood up and dusted off her shorts.  
"Staracream destroyed her house." The blue robot stated, walking up and eyeing Kayden with a cautious look.  
"Dude." The girl said under her breath before turning to Kayden with confidence only a girl with her style could have. "I’m Miko, tall and boring is Jack and the kid is Raf!" She pointed to each of the boys who greeted her with awkward waves before Miko bounded to the railing and addressed the remaining members of the Autobots.  
"You already met Optimus and Ratchet but the big green one is my best bud Bulkhead, the lone wolf is Arcee and the last one is Bumblebee." Miko said with a proud grin.  
A few whoops came from the yellow robot that Kayden could only assume were greetings. Arcee questioned what a wolf was while Bulkhead was the only one to give a proper greeting.  
"Nice to meet you too." Kayden managed to say before Miko got into her personal space and began to bombard her with questions.  
"So how old are you? Did you just move here? You had to since you're so pale! Even Raf has a tan and he's a nerd! Are you a nerd too? What hobbies do you have? Do you enjoy metal? Can you play an instrument?" The over excited girl was pulled back by Jack who looked at Kayden with an apologetic look.  
Kayden repressed a small giggle, hiding it behind her hand as she answered Miko. "I'm twenty-two and I moved from DC just last week. I guess I fall under the terms of a nerd… I'm not sure if I have hobbies since I'm busy with college though I used to play soccer…” Kayden looked down at her black leather boots as she continued. "I haven’t listened to much metal to be honest and I don’t play any instruments."  
Miko's expression changed to a wicked grin that Jack recognized. Miko had full intention of converting Kayden over to the metal side even though the woman seemed to be the total opposite of a metal head. If her appearance was any assumption to which clique Kayden belonged to, it would be the preps. A polite prep seeing as she answered Miko's questions, but a prep nonetheless.  
"What makes you a nerd?" Raf asked, sitting down on his spot and pulling out a laptop.  
"I study ancient literature." Kayden replied.  
"Nerd alert!" Miko shouted as she jumped onto the couch and turned on the TV.  
"Optimus, what should we do today?" Arcee asked, stepping up to her leader.  
Optimus looked down at her and then to Kayden who was preoccupied with the children. "You and Bumblebee are to go on patrol." He stated. "Bulkhead and I will be going to the remains of Kayden's home and helping her gather what she can."  
"Will she be staying here?" Arcee asked, glancing back at the human.  
"Only temporarily." Optimus assured her. "Agent Fowler is working on acquiring a new home for her as we speak."  
"Alright, let's go Bee." Arcee turned to Bumblebee and patted his back before they both transformered and left though the entrance that they came.  
Optimus approached the platform, his large foot steps causing all of the humans to look up at him. From where he stood, Optimus could not help but find it amusing and reminded him of a birds nest that Bumblebee had shown him. They all had a curious look on their faces and waited for him to speak.  
"It would be best if we leave now so that you can gather your things before the night comes." Optimus said, his attention on Kayden who simply nodded in response.  
"Do you want us to help?" Jack offered, extending a hand.  
"But Monster Jam!" Miko whined, before glancing at Jack who gave her a look. "Okay digging through a collapsed home could be fun." She stood up and bolted down the stairs.  
"I’d like to help too." Raf said, placing his laptop down and looking up at Kayden.  
She seemed surprised by their offer and thanked them for the assistance. She followed the two boys down the stairs and climbed into Bulkhead's driver seat when he opened the door for her.  
"Why does she get to drive?" Miko asked from the passenger seat.  
Jack leaned in from the back and eyed Miko. "Because she can drive." He said, earning a small smile from Kayden before her attention was taken by the strange green swirl in front of her. She pointed at it with a curious look.  
"It's a groundbridge." Jack said. "We use it to get from place to place."  
"Amazing." Kayden said under her breath as they drove through the portal.  
A flash of light covered them and Kayden went from staring at a blinding portal to looking at the remains of the building she had been hiding out in since the night before. Though it had been called a vacation home, the house had been simple, made of wood and two stories. The only part of it that stood out was that despite being on the edge of town, it had a long paved driveway that connected to the closest road. Of course this was cracked and beat up given its lack of care. Only a portion of the house stood standing, the portion that Kayden had been thankfully under when Starscream fell through it.  
Splintered wood, beams, chunks of drywall and the dust of both the Nevada desert and the house itself coated the area. Once they got out of Bulkhead, he transformed along with Optimus who both eyed the mess. They looked back at Kayden, waiting to see what she wanted to do. She could already see the books and papers that were spread out everywhere, thrown around in the collision. A small trail of debris could be seen to the back of the house where Optimus had kicked Starscream in order to get him away from her.  
"We should move the big pieces first." Bulkhead suggested. "The support beams are ruined so that last section will fall while we move things around."  
"You four stay here while we remove the large pieces and make sure that nothing will collapse on top of you." Optimud said, leaving them at the edge of the driveway as the two got to work.  
They all watched in fascination as the two bots easily removed the large remains of the house. An entire side of the house was knocked down like a piece of paper but with a deafening thud and a large dust cloud. Though they were careful where they stepped, Kayden noted that many of her books were being crushed under their feet and she could hear the distinct crush of glass from time to time. Though Optimis was clearly the leader of the Autobots, it was obvious that Bulkhead had taken charge of this situation. Within five minutes, all that was left were small chunks of wood, drywall and piles of debris that just needed to be sorted through.  
Optimis gestured for them to come closer and Jack let out a whistle as he noticed just how many books were scattered about. Miko picked one up, a dark red leather cover with no title on the front and shook out the dust before flipping through it.  
"Did you have a library in here or something?" She asked, handing the book to Kayden.  
"We did." Kayden confirmed, tossing the book to the side. It wasn't one of hers. "My father is a politician and I'm working to become a scholar so we did a lot of reading."  
"I'm sorry your dad is a politician." Jack said absentmindedly, pushing aside a wood plank to discover the metal frame of Kayden's bed.  
"Why did you apologize for that?" Optimus questioned. He knelt down and carefully picked up the bed and placed it down behind him. If he recalled correctly, furniture like this would be important to Kayden.  
"It’s basically common knowledge that being the child of a politician sucks." Jack said. "Your life can change drastically due to it."  
Optimus did not seem to understand but his next question was interrupted by Rafael who had a much more relevant one. "Kayden, how should we go about pulling stuff out?" He asked.  
Kayden looked through it all before kneeling down and pulling out both a book and a piece of paper that was covered front and back with small letters. "For now I’d like to pull out as much of the papers and books as possible. If the paper is ruined, feel free to ignore it but please pull out all of the books, even the damaged ones." She said.  
"Are all of these books yours?" Optimus questioned, noting the large volume of them. He found a shelf with several that managed to safely stay on. Carefully picking up the breaking piece, he placed it down in the pile of books that the children had quickly began to pile up.  
"No, many of them are my father's." Kayden stated. Her arms were full of papers and she went over to the piles that they had begun. She lifted a rock off the top of the pile and returned it once she added the new sheets. The other children had followed this habit and he wondered why.  
"Whoa, aren't most of these books like, not in English?" Miko asked, picking up a book with a German title. "These your dads’?"  
"No, those ones are mine." Kayden said, not even looking up from the pile she was working on.  
Optimus had found something that he had begun to read as Bulkhead was steadying a beam as Jack and Raf were unearthing what appeared to be her dresser. Miko stared at the German book before picking up another with a different language written inside.  
"Can you even read these?" Miko asked, tossing them into the book pile and flinching when she knocked down a few stacks, creating a mess and earning a hard stare from the two boys who had arranged said stack.  
"I can." Kayden answered, putting another pile of papers down. "I did say that I studied ancient literature."  
"German isn't ancient." Miko pointed out, making all of them stare at her. "What? Did I say some thing wrong?"  
"Miko, plenty of languages have survived for hundreds of years." Raf stated, adjusting his glasses as he found Kayden's laptop. "Kayden means that she studies older works such as Shakespeare."  
"Ooh, so boring stuff." Miko stated.  
"That depends on your perspective." Kayden said, not offended by the girl's words. "I also study historical events and I find many funny things."  
"Like what?" Miko asked, lifting up a fairly large book that was most likely an encyclopedia.  
"There was once a queen whose husband died. An enemy nation tried to get her to marry the men they sent as an offer. She didn't like them so she killed them and asked for better prospects but she killed those as well." Kayden said, never looking up from her collection of papers. "In the end she got bored and when she returned the carrier pigeons back to the enemy nation, she had them carry hot coals which caused the enemy palace to catch fire. She set their castle on fire without leaving her throne."  
"Okay, that’s cool." Miko admitted as she released the encyclopedia and created a dust cloud. "Why don't we learn about these things in history class?"  
"Because learning about the same four wars is more important." Jack said sarcastically.  
Kayden noticed that Optimus was still focusing on the book he had picked up several minutes ago. His eyes were set on it and it seemed like he hadn't moved at all. She stood up and carefully walked over a broken table to stand closer.  
"Did you find something interesting?" Kayden asked, looking up curiously.  
The large robot seemed to flinch, releasing air that kicked up dust as his eyes turned to Kayden. He glanced between the small book in his very large hand and gingerly handed it back to Kayden.  
"My apologies." Optimus stated. "I admit that I was intrigued by the story."  
Kayden accepted the book, noting the dust that had gotten stuck in the crevices of the leather cover and that the edges of the pages were slightly bent, most likely from Optimus trying to turn them as gently as possible. The title of the book was embossed in faded gold and a tethered ribbon of a bookmark had been moved, most likely to where Optimus had been interrupted.  
"The Faerie Queene." Kayden said, tracing the title. "This is a famous epic. Would you like to continue reading it?"  
Optimus felt his spark leap slightly at her offer and he ex-vented slightly to hide his excitement. "We should focus on gathering your belongings." He said. "But if you do not mind, once we are finished, I would like to take you up on the offer."  
Kayden nodded and walked back to the collection of books and gently placed the book by itself, off to the side. Optimus noted this, before turning back to what they still had left to do.

It took several hours to dig out all of Kayden's belongings. The loose papers had been the hardest as they tried their best not to damage them, especially after what Raf had noted. When he saw that all of the papers had the same handwriting, Kayden confirmed that they were her notes and research for a part of her thesis. Jack scolded her slightly for not mentioning how important they were which confused Kayden a bit, though she was grateful.  
Once all of the books and papers were removed, Kayden was satisfied until Miko reminded her about other important things such as clothing, something that seemed to blow over the woman's mind. Jack noted that Kayden was most likely the type of person to get so deep into her work that she forgot that the rest of the world existed. In response, Kayden simply scratched her cheek sheepishly. Once done, they stared at the large pile of books.  
"You said that some of these belong to your dad right?" Jack asked.  
"Do you intend to return them to him?" Raf asked, wondering if they could bring them all back.  
"No, I'll leave them here." Kayden said kneeling down and picking up a book with a red leather cover. "If he wants them, he can come get them."  
With that, kayden began to launch books behind her and back into the pile of what was left of the house. She sifted through the large pile quite easily, tossing them over her shoulder with little hesitation and not even flinching when the sound if broken glass filled the air. Jack glanced down at Kayden who dusted off her hands now that the pile was down to a fourth of what it was.  
"I'm going out on a limb here and saying you don't get along with your dad." Jack said as Kayden stood up. She turned to him, her head titling slightly.  
"Not at all." Kayden stated bluntly Her voice was even and almost gleeful as if she found it amusing that Jack realized her disdain.  
"Let's not make this a soap opera and get to packing up all of these books." Miko interrupted, lifting a large stack and teetering over to Bulkhead who has transformed into his alt mode.

Upon returning to base, Ratchet shook his head at the volume of items that had been brought back despite Jack assuring him that it really wasn't a lot. They stored the books and furniture into a room that had an entrance that was much too small for the Autobots and had therefore been ignored. As soon as Jack opened the door to it, a scorpion crawled out. Miko released a shriek, dropping the books as Raf and Jack backed away.  
"Please, something that small is hardly dangerous." Ratchet scowled in annoyance as Kayden began to trail after the scorpion.  
"Except those things have venom than can kill us!" Jack said.  
"Venom?" Ratchet asked. "Is it like a toxin?"  
"Yes!" Jack shouted as the scorpion turned towards them until Kayden managed to catch it in a plastic tub. They could hear it hitting the side of the food storage container in what seemed to be rage. Skillfully, Kayden skid the box to the wall and managed to get it up on the wall before quickly flipping it with the opening up and slamming the lid down.  
"Nice save!" Miko said, giving Kayden a thumbs up as she secured the lid.  
"Have you done that before?" Raf asked, looking up at the creature with courage now that he could no longer be stung.  
"We have venomous spiders in DC so I've dealt with them a few times." Kayden said. She looked up at Optimus and held up her new prisoner. "I’m going to release him outside."  
Optimus nodded and walked over to the computer to open the outside door for her. He had been rather unsure what to do at first when he had heard Miko scream. The black creature had been quick and almost unnoticed until he spotted Kayden trailing after it. While the children seemed rather intent on getting away from the creature, Kayden was focused on figuring out how to catch it. He silently wondered if Jack was over exaggerating about the creature being deadly to humans.  
By the time Kayden had trotted down the long hallway and safely released her captured scorpion outside and returned to the common room, the children were giving the Autobots a lesson on venomous creatures and why they are dangerous. The three titans seemed generally surprised over how creatures as small as humans were to them, could be so terrifying. But they agreed to remove or dispose of any large snakes or scorpions that they spotted, much to their humans’ delight.  
Kayden walked up the stairs and towards the computer where Miko was waving. She deposited the tub into the table before taking a spot next to the girl. It was with all of them standing there together that Jack noted just how tall Kayden was, standing almost even with him.  
"Has the monster been vanquished?" Miko asked with a grin.  
"More like returned to the wild." Kayden said, going along with Miko without missing a beat.  
"I was half expecting you to step on it." Miko slammed her booted foot on the platform several times, causing a slight echo.  
"I have a size limit for what I'm willing to step on." Kayden stated. "Usually nothing bigger than a cricket."  
"Yeah I have to agree with that." Jack said. "I'd rather catch and release than have to feel something that big squishing under my shoe."  
The Autobots looked down at the humans, all feeling subtly disturbed at how easily they'd be willing to step on the creatures. Raf noticed their expressions and the group spent the next thirty minutes trying to convince them that there is nothing wrong with killing ants and other insects. By the time they had finished, Arcee and Bumblebee had returned from patrol and the sun was beginning to set. With school starting again the next day, the children quickly helped Kayden get a place to sleep set up before they left with their guardians for the night.  
Kayden looked down at all of the papers that they had recovered from her house as they covered the coffee table and were even stacked on the floor beside it. Raf had found several tubs and some folders for Kayden to use to help organize the mess and Miko had offered her a package of paper so she could write down anything she needed. Kayden knew that she would have to get all of this fixed tonight or she would never be able to sleep but first, she had something to give to Optimus.  
Going over to the closet where her things had been hidden, Kayden pulled out the leather book with the embossed title of ‘The Faerie Queene’ on it. She held it gingerly as she trotted back up the stairs and up to where Optimus and Ratchet were overlooking the screen. She stood at the railing, patiently waiting for them to finish talking amongst themselves. She noticed that the sounds that they were making were of no language that she had ever heard and sounded almost similar to the whoops and beeps that Bumblebee would say but seemed much more complicated. The screen also displayed a written language that Kayden had never seen and her first thought was wanting to know what it said. Her eyes trailed the characters and looked at the pictures around them to see if she could make some sense of them but she couldn't. Though she did admit that the writing looked similar.  
Shaking her head from the thoughts, Kayden reminded herself that Optimus had promised to teach her about Cybertron and that that would probably in tow involve learning the language, or at least reading it. If the spoken language was anything like how Bumblebee spoke or what she could hear from Ratchet and Optimus, she was certain that the human voice box could not replicate such tones.  
When she noticed that the two were no longer speaking to each other, Kayden stepped closer to the railing. "Optimus?"  
Optimus almost did not hear his name being called. When Miko returned, he had turned down his auditory sensor and he had noted Kayden's voice, while still soft, was not as quiet around the children. She probably felt more comfortable around them than around Agent Fowler or himself which made sense. Her quiet voice returned now that the children were gone but she still stood in front of him with no fear and no hesitation. Uncomfortable with someone you just met and scared of the unknown were vastly different concepts and Optimus was grateful that Kayden was the former.  
"Did you need something, Kayden?" Optimusasked, leaning down slightly.  
Kayden held out the book that he had been reading earlier when they were cleaning up collapsed house. He was taken aback at first but then recalled that she had offered to let him finish the book when they had returned.  
"Thank you." He said, gingerly taking the old book and placing it on the center of his servo. Ratchet had become curious about the exchange and glanced back at them.  
"What is that?" He asked, noting how small the book was. Optimus would have to zoom in his optics in order to successfully read the print on the pages.  
"A book, or what I believe Kayden called an epic." Optimus stated. "I became quite enthralled in it earlier today."  
Ratchet shook his head and turned back to the computer. "Of course you'd get caught up in human literature." He said with a scoff. "After all, you always used to get caught up in ours."  
Ratchet's tone softened as he spoke and by the end he spoke in a soft jarble that Kayden could not understand nor translate. Optimus looked at Ratchet with what appeared to be a sentimental but painful look. Kayden watched the two with a wonder that she had never felt before.  
Before her stood two beings of ancient origin. Though their lives spanned much further than hers, though this time may seem like nothing, they still lived through years that Kayden could never dream of experiencing. What had their eyes seen in the millenia of war? What had they experienced in their life span? How did they live their lives, before the war?  
Kayden must have been staring because Optimus gave her a curious look. "Is everything alright?" He asked.  
Kayden snapped back into focus before nodding rapidly and turning on her heel in a smooth movement that Optimus had noticed that only humans could ever produce. She trotted back to the couch and begun shuffling through her papers, separating them with relative ease. Her hair covered her face now, and Optimus had regretted asking her so soon.  
He had been looked at in many different ways. Looked down upon for being a nobody, looked at as a friend and an ally, looked at with admiration and pride but also in envy and hatred. He'd seen desperate optics, begging to be saved, hateful optics, cursing him to death. Humans looked at him with fear and awe, and with judgment as if they wondered how they could benefit themselves with him. But just then, Kayden's optics were filled with a curious wonder that he'd seen himself have when he first arrived at the Iacon Hall. He had seen similar expressions in the other children as well, an innocent wonder that he had originally written off as naivety that they had. An immature curiosity that was thankfully projected at them and not the Decepticons.  
But according to Agent Fowler, Kayden was not a child. She was young, but not a child. This concept of age in human society had always confused Optimus as he didn’t quite understand what youth meant in comparison to his own society. Bumblebee would be considered young but he would refer to him as being inexperienced rather than youthful. Especially since he had a good head on his shoulders despite still needing to grow more.  
He eyed the book in his hand before looking down at Kayden who had continued to sift through the many papers in front of her. She now had a pile of newer pages that she would write down on from time to time. Would she be the equivalent of Bumblebee in this sense? An inexperienced human who has much to learn while the other children were more like sparklings who had yet to be released from their carrier? The question drummed into the back of Optimus’s processor as he wondered if it would be in the best interest to ask Kayden about this. If she was indeed more along the lines of being like Bumblebee, then it would be much more polite to treat her with a certain level of responsibility above the other children. He gave himself a nod and stepped more to the side, where he could be behind the small human.  
“Kayden, may I ask a question?” Optimus asked.  
Kayden looked straight up at him, her back still facing him before she turned her upper body to face him better. With her arms folded on the back of the couch, she tilted her head in a slight nod and waited for him to ask. It took Optimus a few moments to process that she was waiting for him to continue and he made a sound that Kayden believed sounded similar to a clearing of one's throat.  
“I apologize if this is a rude question but something Agent Fowler stated earlier about you has left me a bit… confused.” Optimus began. His optics stare straight at Kayden’s. “Why did he refer to you as an adult in human society but that you could still be considered a child?”  
Kayden was silent for several moments, her eyes never leaving Optimus’s as she pondered his question. It had honestly caught her by surprise as she had not expected him to ask such a thing. She adjusted herself on the couch, kneeling on it so that she could face the mech before her.  
“In human society, we tend to separate ages into… milestones of sorts and categorize ourselves in accordance to them.” Kayden said carefully, trying to figure out how to explain a social construct that had been something she never questioned or thought about, “Anyone above eighteen years old is considered an adult but if you are in your twenties like me, you are considered a young adult.”  
“And a young adult can be considered a child?” Optimus questioned.  
“Some people do consider them to be children.” Kayden said. “But it’s mostly due to them being inexperienced to the adult world and then the added fact of different responsibilities that some young adults can’t handle yet.”  
“So it can differ depending on how responsible said young adult is but if they are considered children, it is due solely to their inexperience.” Optimus confirmed and Kayden nodded. That would mean that he was correct in thinking that Kayden was more like Bumblebee in regards to maturity while the other children would resemble sparklings more. “Thank you for confirming, I feel that I have a better understanding of the difference.”  
Kayden simply gave the mech a small smile before going back to her work. Who knew that an alien of his stature would be concerned over her social structure.


	2. Pompeii

A silence filled the Autobot base that Optimus had grown accustomed to over the span of time since interacting with the children of Earth. During the day hours where Earth's sun shown, a constant noise was present, an ever chatter of excitement and the occasional cheering from whatever was entertaining them. His bots had joined in as well, often right behind the humans, enthralled and captured by the new world before them. Optimus would not admit it aloud, but he did enjoy this new noise that had taken over the base and at times he found himself hearing the voices of the children when it was obvious that they were not there. Even now, with the new occupant of the base, the night was still quiet. Not because the new occupant was in recharge, as much as she probably should have been, but because much like Ratchet and Optimus himself, their new occupant worked in a focused silence that none could break.  
A slight shuffle of paper, the scratching of a human writing tool were evenly met with the low hum of the computer and the occasional tapping of Ratchet. Every now and then, one of them would ex-vent, adjust their position or release some inaudible jarble under their breath that Optimus had not quite caught. He stood to the side, watching his old friend focus on whatever was haunting his processor and then to their new ally who was trying to piece together what Rafael had told him was a very important project. He was certain that he should have suggested that Kayden recharge and save the rest for the next day, a suggestion he should also be giving his medic, but he did not. Part of him wanted to continue listening to the two of them work in tangent, not realizing how comfortable the atmosphere of the base had become despite the awkwardness of a newcomer. Optimus was almost certain that Ratchet had completely forgotten that Kayden even existed, having accepted that a human presence meant noise and disturbances and nothing less.   
Optimus watched as Kayden held her head, her digits tangled in her hair before running through it. A human stress tic that he had noted from time to time, particularly when the children were working on school work. His attention diverted towards the book that he had opened onto his servo but had not gotten far into before he became distracted. He began to reread the page before him for what felt like the fifth time but this time, he became hooked on the words and was captured by the human literature.  
When Optimus finally closed the book, satisfied but desiring the next part, much time had passed. Ratchet still stood at his spot, but the sound of paper shuffling had ceased. He assumed that Kayden had finished her work, or given up for the evening and quietly walked over to the platform. To his surprise, he found the large, messy stacks of paper to have been replaced with organized bins and folders. A stack of newly written pages were centered onto the desk, free of the dust that stained the other pages.  
Curled up on the couch was Kayden, her body hidden under a thick blanket that Miko had unearthed. Her head nestled against a pillow and her hair was strewn about, covering most of her face from view. Ever slightly he could see the blanket rise, a slow and steady rhythm of deep sleep. Making sure that he did not wake up the small human, Optimus gently placed the book on the table, beside her writing. He would wait until she wakes up before requesting the next part of the book.

***

It took Miko running up the stairs of the platform and jumping onto the couch to awaken Kayden from her sleep. Though much of that being from the fact that Miko had in fact jumped onto her instead of the couch since she had sprawled out across its entire length at some point. Kayden had let out a small 'oof' and sat up wearily, her eyes focusing onto the younger girl who remained sitting on her stomach.  
"Morning, Kayden!" Miko said with a grin.  
Kayden let out a grunt and ran a hand over her face, rubbing at her eyes before looking straight up at the ceiling where the spotlights of the base glared down at her. "What… time?" She asked tiredly, yawning as she sat up.  
"A little after two-thirty in the afternoon." Jack said, looking at the now organized papers. "Did you stay up all night to finish this?"  
"Possibly." Kayden managed to get Miko off of her but the girl took claim to the blanket, huddling under it with Kayden who sat properly on the couch to give them room.  
"That's not healthy." Jack warned her.  
"Neither is skipping meals and I've been doing that." Kayden said. She reached down to pick up the remote that had wound up under the couch and handed it to Miko as Raf took a spot on the couch.  
"How are you a functioning adult?" Jack shook his head.  
"If you go to college, you'll understand how difficult it is to be a 'functioning adult'." Kayden stifled another yawn and looked down at the coffee table. She spotted the book that she had lent Optimus and picked it up. The bookmark had been moved to the front of the book, right behind the cover. As Miko started playing a metal concert on TV, Kayden turned around to see if she could find the large mech.  
Today, all members of Team Prime were present and Optimus was talking with Ratchet. He noticed Kayden's stare and gave her a slight nod before walking over to the platform. Like usual, his foot steps were thunderous and all of the children glanced up at him before going back to the TV.  
"Did you enjoy it?" Kayden asked, holding up the book.  
"I did, though I felt it ended short." Optimus said. "Are there other parts to the story?"  
"There should be six total if I remember correctly." Kayden said. "But they are probably buried with my other books." She turned towards the small room where they had stored her belongings. No organization had gone into stacking the books and so she had no idea where they could be hidden.   
"Once I'm more organized, I'll get you the next one." Kayden promised and Optimus nodded.  
"I would appreciate that." He stated and stood up as Miko turned up the volume as her favorite song came on.  
The girl did an air guitar and copied the notes with her voice as it played, annoying Ratchet who turnedtko the group with a huff.  
"Would you silence that racket!" He shouted.  
Miko stood up on the couch, hands on her hips as she shouted over the TV. "You don't appreciate good music!"  
"I appreciate my auditory sensors not busting!" Ratchet retorted.  
Thjis is culture!" Miko defended, waving her hands towards the TV.  
"Hardly!" Ratchet said, letting out a slight spluttering noise as it was obvious that he did not believe the young girl one bit.   
Jack managed to snag the remote and lower the volume in respect for Ratchet, but he didn't change the channel. Kayden glanced up at Optimus who was watching their exchange.  
"Is there music on Cybertron?" She asked. Optimus simply shook his head. "Then, sorry Ratchet, but Miko is right. Music is a big part of Earth culture."  
Miko let out a booyah as she plopped back down on the couch and she threw a smirk at Ratchet who stared at Kayden in disbelief. Kayden adjusted her seat and leaned against the arm of the chair as she had the full attention of the older mech.  
"Please explain to me how this shrill, gut wrenching noise is cultural?" He asked, emphasizing how little he liked the metal genre. It was fair to not like certain types of music, but dismissing all music was rude.  
"This music is simply one genre and there are plenty of humans who dislike metal but it still has its significance in our culture and society." Kayden said. "I'm no expert on music but I know enough to say that as long as there has been humans, there has been music and that you could consider music to be human culture."  
The Autobots gathered around, curious about what Kayden had to say. Many of them had come to enjoy human music thanks to their charges. "Music can be anything from traditional songs of tribes to light hearted songs we sing on car rides. Every culture, every society, every human experiences music and some of the greatest people alive were musicians." Kayden continued. "Genres were developed as society changed. There are many cases where songs are written to face turmoil in the world or as a memorial to tragedies."  
"We call people who chase music dreamers. And those who succeed are stars."  
The Autobots were silent but Miko was beaming at what Kayden said. As everyone stared at Kayden, the girl became a bit embarrassed, her face flushing as she tried to look smaller, pulling up the blanket to hide herself.   
"I understand that music is important to you all." Ratchet said with a sigh of defeat. "But can we not listen to this, Metal, all the time?"  
"Then let's listen to other types!" Miko suggested, standing up and rushing over to her bag.  
"Right now?" Ratchet asked, dread in his voice.  
"When would be a better time?" Miko asked, pulling out a small speaker with an iPod attached to it. She handed it to Raf. "Can you make it so we can add more songs?"  
"Leave it to me." Raf said, hooking the iPod up to his laptop.  
"So what do you intend to do?" Arcee asked. She had heard some of the music Jack and June enjoyed but admitted that country was not her thing.   
"Each of us will play a song we really like." Miko said, pointing to the humans of the room.   
"Won't that only cover four genres?" Jack asked.  
"Yes but they are bound to be different." Miko said. "I highly doubt we all share the same taste in music."  
Jack let out a sigh. "Alright, but you can't pick metal." He stated. "The bots know that all too well."  
"Fine!" Miko aaid, sitting down next to Raf as he finished hooking up the device.  
She very quickly punched in a song and promptly downloaded it. Raf took his turn afterwards before sliding the laptop across the table to Jack who took a minute to find the song he wanted to download. He carefully handed the laptop to Kayden who crossed her legs and placed the computer on top of it.  
Kayden had never used an iPod before but it had a search bar and that was all she needed. She quickly typed in her song and was thankful to see it. Adding it to the list, she placed the laptop on the table and pushed it back into Raf's reach. The young boy looked up at Miko and then to the Autobots before connecting the speaker.  
"Okay, first is Miko." He said, pressing play.  
Holiday by Greenday began to play. The shuffling of the room made it obvious that everyone was surprised that it wasn't another screamfest. Miko and Bulkhead, who'd obviously heard the song before, were dancing and singing along and it was quite a sight to see. The two enjoyed their little dance until the song ended and everyone looked back at each other. Arcee was the first to speak up.  
"I admit that it was better than the Metal but I don't really understand what the lyrics meant." She said and the other bots nodded.  
"Most humans don't really understand either." Jack assured her. "But that's how a lot of Rock music goes."  
"Are all music genres named after Earth's geographical elements?" Optimus asked, questioning their names.  
"No, just a few." Raf said. "Next is Jack."  
"Wait didn't you put yours in second." Jack asked.  
"Yeah but it's my computer." Raf retorted, pressing play.  
A familiar melody of a country song began to play and before Tim McGraw could say even one verse, Miko had pressed pause.  
"Hey!" Jack said, obviously offended.  
"I refuse to sit here and listen to country." Miko said.  
The two began to argue and Kayden swore she could hear Arcee sigh in relief at the song having been interupted. Optimus looked down at them confused.  
"I found that… melody is it, quite nice." He said.  
"Thank you!" Jack said. "See, Optimus knows good music."  
"Optimus, really?" Arcee asked and the larger robot shrugged.   
Bumblebee released a whooping noise that interrupted the argument of Miko and Jack. Kayden had no idea what the bot said but Raf seemed to understand it clearly.  
"Okay Bee, I'll play my song now." The younger boy said as Jack grumbled about it being unfair.   
This time, an unfamiliar song played. It was a medieval fantasy song with some computer generated notes that made it sound like it came from a video game. Miko became interested and scooted closer to the computer to look at the name.   
"Isn't this boss battle music?" She asked.  
"Yeah, it's from an rpg I used to play." Raf said. "I really liked their soundtrack."  
"I did not understand a single word you just said." Ratchet stated as Bumblebee mimicked the song.  
"Rpg is a video game genre that often involves fighting. The boss battle is the final battle against the last enemy, usually called the last boss." Jack answered. "A sound track is the music played during the course of the game or movie."  
"This genre has no words?" Bulkhead asked.  
"It's called an instrumental." Kayden said. "Not every song will be one, but many are so that you can hear the characters talking."  
"You play video games?" Miko asked in sirprise.  
"Nope." Kayden answred. "But I've watched other people play."  
"Oh! Walk throughs!" The girl realized and Kayden nodded.  
Raf's song choice came to an end and it was time for Kayden's choice. Raf pressed play and Kayden relaxed as familiar mix of keys and tones filled the base as Skrillex played.  
"Dude! Dubstep?" Miko shouted excitedly. "I thought we were going to get pop or something!"  
Kayden simply shook her head as the song continued. The Autobots had all gone silent but occasionally they would shuffle their feet and step away from the platform until the song finally came to an end. The humans all looked up at their robot companions, waiting for their opinion on the music.  
"That… was weird." Arcee admitted. "It almost sounded like words but I couldn't make it out."  
"That sounded like voodoo!" Ratchet said, shaking his head.  
"Was it really that bad?" Jack asked.  
"The use of tones and sounds gives a similar affect to how our spoken language works." Optimus stated. "It was… rather confusing in all honesty."  
"So we probably shouldn't play dubstep around you guys then?" Jack offered and Optimus nodded.  
"It may be best to avoid doing so." He admitted.  
"Sorry Kayden, looks like you lost." Miko said with a grin. Kayden shrugged and leaned against her arm.  
"This is why we invented headphones." She stated.  
Miko laughed and the group went back to playing around with the music. Bumblebee and Bulkhead gathered around them as they tried out various genres to see if there were others that they would enjoy. They had gotten half way through a Baby Metal song when the proximity sensor went off, revealing that Agent Fowler had arrived. They shut off the music as the man came down the elevator and walked into to the platform.  
"Agent Fowler."Optimus greeted. Fowler gave him a nod before turning to Kayden.  
"Kayden, we've secured a place for you to live in. You can move in at any time." He stated. "I also have a message from your grandfather."  
Kayden tilted her head to the side in confusion as Fowler handed her a thick envelope with a blue stamp of a bald eagle on it. "Why did you talk to him?" She asked, opening the envelope and barely catching a set of keys that had dropped out.  
"The house you lived in was in his name so he was the one we informed about it." Fowler stated. "He expressed his concern for your wellbeing but asked that you keep going for take off."   
Fowler's expression confirmed that he had no idea what the words meant but Kayden had no intention of sharing the secret phrase that she had conned with her grandfather years ago, before he was put into an elderly home. She tapped the envelope to her lip, hiding a smirk over the fact that her father was still ignorant to the fact that his 'vacation home' no longer existed.   
"Thank you, Agent Fowler." Kayden said. "Did my grandfather look well?"  
"Too well to be where he's at." Fowler admitted.  
Kayden nodded and pulled out the paper that showed a picture of her home, it's address and some details about it. It was a quaint little house, close to the schooling district of Jasper. It looked like she could walk to the high school from it's location.  
"I love it." She said with a hum and folded the paper back inside of the envelope.   
"Glad you do, we were… limited with our selection." He admitted. "You weren't intending to return to DC, were you?"  
"Only if my university needs me for something." Kayden stated. "Since I'm working on my thesis, they are giving me a lot of space as long as I keep in touch with my professor."  
"I forgot to ask but what sort of degree are you getting?" Fowler asked as Miko took the envelope to look the house over.  
"My masters." Kayden answred.  
"You’re twenty-two…" Fowler stated slowly.  
"Yup." Kayden agreed.  
"How many languages can you speak?" He asked.  
"I believe I'm up to nine." Kayden said, tapping her finger to her chin.  
"Dude, do you speak Japanese?" Miko piped in.  
"No but I know Mandarin." Kayden admitted. "I'd love to learn though."  
"Want me to teach you?" Miko offered   
"Would you?" Kayden's eyes lit up and Jack shook his head.  
"Well enjoy your new house, I've got to get back to base." Agent Fowler said. "I'll be keeping in touch."  
"Thank you, Agent Fowler." Optimus said as the man left. He looked down at the cluster of humans and was about to suggest helping Kayden move in when an energon signal went off.  
"Looks like the Decepticons uncovered another location." Ratchet said. "It's located on an island in the Philippines."  
"That island doesn't have any people on it and is impossible to get to by boat so you shouldn't have to worry about being spotted." Raf piped in.   
"Alright then, Bulkhead and Bumblebee, you are on patrol, Arcee you will come with me." Optimus said. The two mechs transformed and sped out of the base as Ratchet activated the groundbridge.   
As soon as the two bots were out of sight, Kayden felt someone tug her arm as she was dragged off of the couch and down the stairs. Thoroughly confused, she noticed that it was Miko dragging her and she nearly flew down the last few steps before they escaped through the groundbridge before Jack could even warn Ratchet. With a flash of bright light and a weird twisting in her stomach, Kayden found herself landing on pink sand. The familiar smell of sand and the crashing sound of waves and gulls caused her senses to overload as she tried to process going from a metal base to a tropical island with the sun setting in the background.  
"It's the beach!" Miko cheered, trotting over to the edge of the surf and splashing around despite still wearing her boots.   
Kayden came back down to earth and looked around the beach. A distinct set of footprints were clearly indented into the sand: a large and deep set of prints beside a smaller and shallower set. It was obvious that they belonged to Optimus and Arcee. She called Miko over and pointed to them.  
"Well at least we know which way they went!" Miko said with a grin as Kayden released a small sigh.

Optimus and Arcee had already made their way to the rocky mountain of the island when Ratchet had contacted them. His tone was a bit frantic after learning a very dangerous fact about the island they were on.  
"Is something the matter, Ratchet?" Optimus asked, halting their movements before looking up at the mountain where the energon signal was coming from.   
"A big problem." Ratchet said. "Miko and Kayden went through the groundbridge."  
"I'm not surprised by Miko but I wasn't expecting that from Kayden." Arcee said. She turned to look down the mountain and noticed two small figures running along the beach. She zoomed in and noted that they were in fact Miko and Kayden. "I've got a visual on them."  
"Jack says Miko dragged Kayden through the groundbridge so I do not think she went willingly but that isn't the serious problem." Ratchet said.  
"What is then?" Optimus asked. He was looking in the direction that Arcee had pointed out. 

Kayden and Miko were running along the beach, boots off as they decided that climbing the large mountain was too much trouble. Kayden had noticed that a lot of smooth boulders covered the island and climbing them would be difficult. With the sun setting and no vegetation, staying at the shore and enjoying the beach was a much better option. Kayden looked up at the mountain, covering her eyes with her hands as she noticed two figures ascending it.  
"Is that Optimus and Arcee?" She asked, pointing up to the top of the mountain.  
"Looks like it!" Miko said. "They got up there fast!"  
Miko kicked at the sand, knocking out a clam before feeling a vibration run through the sand. The two girls braced themselves and looked between each other.  
"An earthquake?" Miko asked, kneeling to the ground.   
Kayden looked up at the mountain as the trembling continued. Smoke had started to come from the mountain and she carefully stood up. Miko saw what she was staring at and did the same.   
"I'm not very good at science but that looks like a volcano now." Kayden said, digging her foot into the sand.  
"I'm no good either, but I have to agree." Miko said, panic starting to rise in her voice. She looked around, having lost sight of Optimus and Arcee. "What should we do? They're gone!"  
"Did Ratchet groundbridge them?" Kayden wondered aloud as a crackling broke through the air followed by the sounds of an explosion.   
The two girls fell on their knees and butts as the ground began to shake. Their screams were drowned out by the sound of the eruption. Heat began to rise as lava bubbled and pooled over the edge, releasing vivid explosions of blue occasionally. The smoke filled the sky, blocking out any light from the setting sun and soon the two girls found themselves in a darkness that was being illuminated by an erupting volcano.  
Miko gripped Kayden's arm and buried her face in it as she started to scream. Sweat trickled down Kayden's neck and face as the thick heat began to make it hard to breath. This wasn't a Decepticon crashing through her house, this isn't the ancient war of a species of metal titans. This was their own planet reminding them once again that she could kill them with ease. And now they sat in a place they never should have been to start with.  
A loud honking ripped through the air, the type of horn that one would usually only hear on a semi-truck and most definitely not on an island with an activating volcano. But when Kayden lifts her head, she sees one tear over the rocks in front of them with a driverless motorcycle trailing behind. Several hundred feet behind them, the lava is flowing down the side of the volcano.   
Launching off the rocks, Optimus transforms and scoops Kayden and Miko up into his large servo, along with a lot of sand. A space bridge opens just over the water and he runs through it with Arcee right behind him. The bridge closes safely as the lava pools down towards the beach.  
In the base, Optimus sets the two girls down. Miko looses strength in her knees, dragging Kayden down with her as she collapses to her knees. The sand breaks the fall but Kayden is snapped back to reality at the uncomfortable feel of sand digging into the bare skin of her legs. The boys ran down to see if they were okay.  
Miko collapsed onto her back and let out a stressed laugh. "That was scarier than facing a Con." She said, taking in a deep breath.   
"I think I understand how the people of Pompeii felt…" Kayden said, letting out a sigh.  
Optimus knelt before them, a serious but soft look on his face. "Are you two alright?" He asked, looking them over. Both girls were flushed red, covered in sand and seemed to have gone through some shock but he saw no external injuries.   
"I'm good." They both managed to say at the same time as Jack helped them to their feet. Kayden immediately tried to brush off the sand, a slight look of disgust playing on her lips.  
"I am glad for that, however that was a very unwise decision." Optimus scolded.  
Kayden looked down at the ground from the corner of her eyes. She waited in silence for Optimus to continue as Miko walked closer.  
"Sorry Optimus, I dragged Kayden in. I wanted her to know what the cons were like." Miko said.  
"Why would you want to do thay?" Ratchet interuppted.   
"So she gets used to them." Miko said, looking at Kayden. "You okay?"  
Kayden glanced down at Miko before looking up to Optimus. She pushed her hair out of her face, ignoring the sand grains that clung to it. "I think I'd rather face cons then an erupting volcano." She said wearily. "If I'm to be honest."  
"The next time I'll make sure cons are actually there." Miko aaid, placing her hands on her hips as everyone sighed.


	3. Airplanes in the Night Sky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was trying to figure out where to go with this chapter. Not very eventful but some one on one time with the nerds of the group.

It had taken several days for the Autobots to finally aid Kayden in moving into her new house. Despite the rush to purchase the property, Kayden found that it was in good condition, just a few cosmetic details that would need fixing up. Though she honestly didn't even know how long she'd be staying in it. She had hid out in her father's 'vacation home' to get away from DC and focus on her thesis. Her intentions were to return to the university once she was done, but now she found herself questioning exactly how her life would proceed now that she's become part of the ancient Cybertron war. She intended to stick with the Autobots until the war was won, but how long would that take? She'd technically never even met a Decepticon and had no way of gaging exactly how much of a threat this issue was.  
Miko seemed to find the Cons to be no problem, though Jack had exasperated about how many times they had nearly been killed in one day alone. Given the size of the Autobots, and the potential size of the Decepticons, Kayden could only guess that their battle skills were something beyond human comprehension on their own. Combine that together and just two small armies colliding with each other could easily wipe cities off of the map. The thought sent a shiver down her spine.  
"Kayden?"  
The girl flinched at her name being called, snapping out of her thoughts and dropping the books she had been holding. She looked over at her phone, flipped open and on speaker with Optimus, who was sitting on the curb outside. Kayden quickly gathered up the books, taking notice to the parts that were falling apart and badly stained.  
"Do you need assistance?" Optimus asked, when she didn't answer again.  
"No, sorry." Kayden said, placing the now organized books down next to the phone. "I was… lost in thought."  
"Does something concern you?" Optimus asked.  
"A lot of things." Kayden admitted. She turned to the bookshelf that Bulkhead had helped build her when the one she thought had survived collapsed. "But I can figure them out eventually."  
"I can hear you out, if you ever need advice." Optimus said, his voice smooth and practiced, as if he had repeated the words plenty of times. That just made them seem much more sincere, that he was always willing to help.  
"Thank you." Kayden said. "I’ll most likely take you up on that."  
"Did you have questions you wish to ask?" Optimus questioned. From his spot on the curb, he could see clearly into Kayden's house. She didn't have the coverings on her windows that a majority of houses he saw did and she had mentioned purchasing some soon for privacy reasons. He watched as she dusted off another book but instead of placing it on the bookshelf, it was placed on top of the ones she had just dropped.  
"I do. Plenty of them. I think anyone would in all honesty." Kayden said. "But I think my questions stem from my own curiosity."  
"You did request to learn about our planet." Optimus stated in agreement. "Of the humans I have met, you are the first to be so openly curious about that aspect of ourselves, instead of just our… military might."  
Kayden thought back to Fowler and how Optimus must have spent several days, maybe even months, discussing with the government over the asylum of his team within the country. Optimus was always polite, overly so at times. She could imagine the surprise of these higher-up, scratchy old men being shocked when an ancient titan politely requests asylum and acts humble towards them. A smile smile grew on her features at the spectacle and she felt that being in that room would have been more than just amusing. She disliked politics but she knew how the government worked and having them threatened with kindness is beyond her belief.  
"Not everyone is very open to other cultures, even amongst our own species. Ignorance, being closed minded or just too much ego and pride, you can't sugarcoat anything in regards to those people." Kayden said firmly. "But it’s us who are willing to see other cultures and open our horizon that get to see just how amazing this planet is."  
A small hum came from Optimus as he listened to Kayden speak. He noticed a slight raise in her volume, and how she speaks just a bit faster when talking about her studies. Cybertron was made up of one country, as the humans would call it. Though they had their one belief in Primus, there were some who disregarded his existence. Even his position as a Prime held much power beyond just leading the Autobots and he was certain that amongst the many beliefs of Earth, there could be something equivalent to his position. The war was a civil war, divided factions with different methods of fighting for their planet. Despite this though, their culture and ideals ran deep and he had spent many cycles lost in the catalogs of the Iacon Hall. To realize that this planet of much smaller humans was compiled of a multitude of such cultures, even his archivist spark ached.  
"Do your studies involve these cultures?" Optimus questioned.  
Kayden placed a book on a top shelf, seeming to organize them in some form. "They do, but not on them explicitly." Kayden said. "Many linguistic, forensic, archeology and anthropology studies involve knowing a very wide spectrum of things to completely understand your studies. There is a big difference between knowing and understanding. I want to understand."  
"What do you intend to do once you graduate?" Optimus asked without thinking.  
Kayden let out a small hum as she pondered his question. "A lot of that will be, out of my control. Working at a museum or having my own lab would be ideal." She said. "But my line of work generally requires being invited and I haven't done well at… introducing myself to viable sources of employment."  
"What is a museum?" Optimus questioned.  
"Museums are locations where people can go and see and learn about various aspects of our histories. Some cover a variety of topics while others focus on specific things." Kayden said. "Some museums just have dinosaur bones, others have airships. There are art museums that feature the originals of famous and old art pieces. Some focus solely on one culture."  
"So it is like the Iacon Hall but scattered instead of being in one place." Optimus mused. It was interesting how human society had built places for people to learn, despite Kayden emphasizing the ignorance of people. "Is there a specific one that you'd like to work for?"  
"I’m not picky as long as I can work." Kayden admitted. "My interests aren't specific, so as long as it's not modern, I’ll work with it."  
"Is there a reason for that?" Optimus questioned.  
Kayden looked down at the phone and from the curb, Optimus could have sworn that he could see that she smirked. "Because no one in modern times could get away with what people did in the past." She said.  
"Would you care to elaborate?" Optimus asked, noting the amusement in her tone.  
"We have a famous battle during the Trojan War where an army built a hollow wooden horse and hid inside of it to sneak into an enemy fort. The enemy saw horses as sacred and brought the horse in, thinking it was a surrender from the army. That night the army snuck out of the horse and took over the fortress." Kayden said. She sat down on a chair and looked between her now organized bookshelves and the mess on her floors.  
"How is that possible?" Optimus questioned. "Could they not see through it?"  
"During that time period, humans didn't have guns or technology in general." Kayden explained. "War was less complicated as well."  
"Though your technology can be considered archaic to our own, knowing what you do have and knowing that such a battle plan succeeded is quite…" Optimus became quiet as he searched for the word that he wanted to explain.  
"Mind-blowing?" Kayden suggested.  
"I believe that is the human equivalent of short circuiting." Optimus said. "Do you have others?"  
"Of course." Kayden stated. "A famous emperor once declared war on the Greek God Poseidon, who is the God of the Sea, and he ordered his men to stab the ocean in his attempt to fight him."  
This time a strange, strangulated noise came from the phone. It was muffled, but Kayden picked up the phone curiously and saw that her connection to Optimus was still connected.  
"Optimus?" Kayden asked, tilting her head slightly.  
Silence followed for several seconds before she heard a rush of air followed by the low tone of Optimus's voice. "My apologies, Kayden." He said. "I cannot deny that that is preposterous."  
"If our military was told to do such a thing today, they'd probably be looking for a new leader." Kayden said.  
"So you are working for your.. degree, just because you find amusement in some events of that past?" Optimus pondered, wondering if it was worth it.  
"Not completely. That’s more of a perk of the job." Kaydensaid. "I really enjoy breaking down languages and trying to figure out how and what words mean and how meanings have changed over the years. It’s like a game."  
"Are Earth languages that complicated?” Optimus thought. When they had been downloaded into his processor, he had never had much difficulty other than with a select few that were… complicated. He was certain that if Japanese ever came up, Miko may need to assist him.  
"They are when you realize that if you break up the words, each section means something different and by combining those words together, you get meanings. Also, spelling and pronunciation of words develops as time passes." Kayden said. "Also, since our lands were rather isolated as language developed, you have some that are similar and others that are vastly different, especially when it comes to written languages. A lot of countries didn't have written languages until colonist introduced their alphabets but it wasn't unusual for that alphabet to not have enough characters for correctly pronouncing how words are spoken. Irish Gaelic is a very good example of this. It’s considered one of the hardest languages to understand and is dying out too since it's easier to learn other languages…"  
Kayden stopped all of sudden and looked out at the window. From the angle she was sitting at, she could just barely see part of Optimus and she had no clue if he could see her. Her face was flushed and she covered it with her hands, curling up into a ball on her seat, bare toes clinging to the edge.  
"I’m sorry." Kayden said, her voice muffled and quiet and she wasn't sure if Optimus had even heard her.  
"For what?" Optimus asked, surprised at how she suddenly stopped. It was the most he had heard her speak over the last week and it had honestly been nice. He didn’t completely understand what Kayden had been talking about, but it reminded him of the lectures he used to attend.  
"I started trailing off." Kayden said. "You didn't ask to hear this."  
"I did not." Optimus confirmed. "But I enjoyed listening to what you had to say. It is obvious that there are many things about humans that are vastly different from Cybertron."  
"An interesting comparison?" Kayden offered. She noticed that the sun was going down and decided to find where she had deposited her shoes so that they could return to base.  
"I believe that is a perfect way of putting it." Optimus stated.  
"I'll be coming out in just a minute." Kayden said, hanging up her phone and slipping it into her back pocket. She yanked on her boots and gathered her things together. She placed two books into the bag, along with a folder of notes and the pencils Miko had given her before walking outside. Making sure to lock her door, Kayden walked up to Optimus, who opened his passenger side door for her.  
As they drove down the roads of Jasper, Kayden noted how different the place seemed to be at a higher position. Though quite tall, there was nothing like riding in the cab of a large vehicle, and it felt like something special to be inside a semi. She drummed her fingers on the door siding as they stopped at a light.  
"Kayden?" Optimus asked, his voice coming from the radio. Kayden nodded her head in acknowledgement before she realized that he probably couldn't see her but he continued anyway. "What is the meaning of the gesture that the child is making?”  
Kayden peaked over at the passenger window and saw a truck stopped next to them. In the back seat, a child the age of Raf was making and fist and pulling down several times. Kayden looked up the cord for Optimus's horn and poked it hard enough for it to swing.  
"He wants you to honk your horn." Kayden said. "Thats the motion truckers make to blow it."  
"I do not understand why he wants that." Optimus stated.  
"It’s fun." Kayden remarked.  
Optimus paused for a few seconds before giving his horn two short blows. The child in the seat erupted in laughter and clapped his hands as the light turned green. Kayden adjusted herself back into the passenger seat.  
"He seemed to have enjoyed it." Optimus noted. "I still do not understand though."  
Kayden shrugged and went back to watching buildings fly by. The humor of humans was simple at best.

***

The sun had almost set by the time they had reached the base, only to find that it was vacant aside from Ratchet. Kayden had come to realize that the docbot, as Miko often referred to him, never left unless absolutely necessary. He was at his computer, mumbling something that Kayden could not hear as she climbed out of Optimus’s cab. The large mech walked over to Ratchet and took a glance around the place.  
“Is everyone out on patrol?” Optimus questioned. It was late at night, but usually only two bots were out at a time. Even if the Decepticons had been quiet the last several days.  
“Bulkhead is but Bumblebee and Arcee went with the kids for something, who knows what.” Ratchet said, never turning to look at his leader.  
“This late at night?” Optimus questioned. He glanced down at Kayden who had opted not to climb the platform.  
Kayden gave him a shrug. She had been preoccupied with her house situation and hadn’t paid much attention to what the children were doing. She also hadn’t been in Jasper long enough to know about any events that could possibly be going on. Optimus looked back at the computer before turning towards the entrance.  
“I will go out on patrol then.” He said, walking past Kayden. He stopped and looked down at her again. “Would you care to join me?”  
“On patrol?” Ratchet asked while Kayden took some quick steps towards Optimus.  
“We will be staying near Jasper.” Optimus said. “I do not believe there is any danger at this time, with Megatron being gone.”  
Kayden glanced between the two bots. Megatron had been mentioned a few times. Miko exaggerated quite a bit about how he was killed in a space bridge explosion before zombie-cons could show up. She was quite curious about him, since the war against the Decepticons continued despite their leader’s death.  
When Optimus transformed, Kayden climbed into the passenger side. Her height made it easier, but she had to admit that it took a bit of effort to climb into the cab. Optimus closed the door behind her and drove off the moment he felt her seat belt was fastened. Outside, the cloudless, blue sky of the Nevada desert was painted black and dotted with millions of stars. The air had cooled significantly and the rock formations caused creepy shadows to dance around them.  
Optimus stuck to the empty desert roads, driving at speed as Kayden leaned against the window and looked out at the night sky. One thing she adored the most about Jasper was how clearly she could see the stars. DC had too much light, too much pollution, to let you see them and she often found herself wishing on satellites instead of actual stars. But here she could even count out the constellations.  
“Do the stars interest you?” Optimus asked after they had spent several minutes in a comfortable silence.  
“Yes.” Kayden admitted. “They are easier to see here, then where I’m from.”  
“Do they have a special meaning on Earth?” He questioned, turning onto another road that led away from Jasper.  
“Stars hold many meanings.” Kayden said softly, tracing a constellation with her finger on his window. “What about on Cybertron?”  
“We see them as guiding points.” Optimus answered.  
“We used to do that in the past.” Kayden pondered. “But the most common thing to do is to wish on them.”  
“You wish on stars?” Optimus questioned.  
“Shooting stars to be precise, but humans have always believed that stars have a special power.” Kayden replied. She sat back against his seat and shoved her hands between her knees. “So much so that we’d wish on airplanes or satellites because we can’t see the stars.”  
She muttered the last part, so quietly that Optimus could barely hear her. If she hadn’t been in his cab, he’d have certainly missed it. But he didn’t understand exactly what she had meant. He had seen the satellites floating above Earth, but to him, they were obviously different from stars, same with airplanes. He could only see it as some human concept that had a deeper meaning that he couldn’t understand.  
A silence fell again as the hum of his engine was the only thing that could be heard across the desert night. Optimus was tempted to turn on his radio, to give Kayden something to listen to but recalled her taste in music and wasn’t sure what to offer. He almost asked her if she wished to listen when he remembered her request from her first day with them.  
“Would you like to hear about Cybertron?” He asked.  
Kayden immediately perked up and turned to the radio where his voice had come from and gave several vigorous nods. Optimus released a low hum, almost like a chuckle as he could see her enthusiasm through the rear view mirror. He slowed down a bit as a car passed by in the opposite direction. “What would you like to know?”  
Kayden tapped her index finger to her lip, arms crossed as she pondered the thousands of questions that danced in her head. She knew basically nothing about them, other than the war and even that was a big open slate as the reasons for it were watered down to simply being over their energy source. She bit her lip, chewing it slightly as she carefully worded her reply.  
“What was your society like, before the war started?”  
This time Optimus was quiet, his engine humming had become a background song to Kayden. She heard a bit of static in the radio, before he finally answered.  
“We Cybertronians are a race that live for millions of years. And because of that, our structural system had been stagnant for eons.” Optimus began. “I believe you call it a Caste System on Earth. Once we grew from from being a sparkling and had our alt form, we would be given a job based on our alt. This job could not be changed, even if our interests lay elsewhere. I originally was a factory worker, but had been noticed by Alpha Trion who brought me to Iacon. I am, one of the few exceptions to ever change their job in a... positive manner.”  
“What do you mean?” Kayden asked, noting exactly how restrictive a society like that could be, and how prejudices.  
“Not all jobs were safe and there were discrepancies between them. The miners had it worse and were often treated horribly.” Optimus began. His tone was even, but his voice just barely cracked under the information he was sharing. “But if they fled the mines, the only place they could be safe at were the Gladiator Pits of Kaon.”  
“Can I assume Kaon was a more or less, lawless city?” Kayden assessed.  
“Precisely.” Optimus stated. “Many great warriors rose from the Pits but none of them could truly fight for Cybertron. If they tried, they’d be sent right back to the mines.”  
Kayden let out a low home. She was certain that there were a lot of details that Optimus was leaving out, but she was okay with just knowing this much. “Are all Cybertronians equipped with weapons?” She asked, recalling Bulkhead mentioning how he used to be a construction worker back on Cybertron.  
“No, when the war broke out, most civilians were forced to upgrade themselves in order to fight.” Optimus stated with hesitation. “But that didn’t necessarily aid them in battle.”  
Kayden fell silent again as she processed the information that had been given to her. She looked back out the window, her own face reflected in the glass of his window. “Optimus, this war wasn’t just over Energon, was it?” She asked bluntly, looking at the radio again.  
“... it was not.” Optimus confirmed. “But that is a fact that has become lost with time.”  
“So when you regain Cybertron…” Kayden trailed off, knowing that she was stepping straight into a land mine. Based on overheard conversations and the retelling of what the children saw, she knew that Optimus and Megatron had a complicated relationship. One that started with them both on the same side and ended with them pointing blades at each other’s throats.  
“I do not intend to reinstate the old system.” Optimus confirmed. “I do not wish for the true purpose of this war to be lost.”  
There was a sadness in Optimus’s voice. A deep sadness that spoke of the millions of years that the war was fought, at the hundreds of thousands of lives that were lost. But also a sense of relief, like a weight had been lifted off of his shoulders at being able to say those words to someone. And Kayden wandered if deep down, Optimus really wanted someone to hear about how the war started.  
“Do many people know this?” Kayden asked. Optimus went silent before giving her a blunt ‘no’ over the radio. “Then why tell me?”  
Another long pause and Kayden mentally kicked herself for overstepping this boundary that she knew had been around the Autobot leader. She could tell he was holding back things. He had secrets and unspoken truths that he had to keep to himself. She knew of someone like that. But unlike that person, Optimus was weighted down with these lies and half-truths and guilt kept them together as they clung to his back for who knows how long. Twisted together into a mass of anxiety that she recognized in the war torn hero.  
“I do not know why I am willing to tell you this.” Optimus finally spoke, his voice stressed but his words steady. “Maybe it is because I see a bit of myself, from before the war, inside of you.”  
A swelling of warmth and pride grew in Kayden’s chest. Her cheeks flushed at what was probably the greatest compliment she had been given. Even the praise that her professor had showered her with when she completed a project was nothing compared to the praise that Optimus had given her. She then realized why the Autobots followed him:  
Optimus was a war torn leader. He’d seen things many people could never experience and anyone who spoke to him could tell that he was someone worthy of respect. But he never acted above others. He was humble and he was kind and he gave that kindness to others. Optimus was strong, strong enough to be gentle and he was not afraid of being so.  
Kayden looked down at her hands and clenched her fists. This war started on Cybertron and it wasn’t originally hers. But now it was on Earth and threatening her home and so now this war is hers. And she was going to follow Optimus through it all, even if she’s dragged down through the hells he’d had to face. She was going to stand by him and let him know that she had his back, no matter what.

For the next hour, Optimus spent the time telling Kayden more about Cybertron, about Primus and the first Thirteen Primes, about his teacher Alpha Trion. He also taught her about their myths and legends, about ancient stories and events and days of great significance. Despite being from a society built on classes, many still integrated together and they still had many concepts that human society had. Namely bars. This was a fact that Kayden found quite amusing and Optimus admitted that a younger him had once underestimated the strength of a high grade and got what humans called ‘plastered’. She was quick to inform him that she had made the same mistake her first time drinking as well but was luckily with her professor.  
“Do humans have a… milestone for when they can drink?” Optimus asked, spending several seconds trying to determine which word to use.  
“We decide it by age but it differs between countries.” Kayden said. “The US doesn’t allow drinking until you are twenty-one.”  
“So you just recently began to drink.” Optimus pondered.  
“Legally.” Kayden said, averting her eyes to stare out the window.  
“Is that meant to imply something?” Optimus questioned but Kayden was given a break when the radio crackled and Ratchet’s voice came on.  
“Optimus, do you read me?” He asked, his voice seemed strained.  
“Loud and clear.” Optimus said, slowing down.  
“We’ve got some trouble. Bumblebee, Primus knows why, was street racing and Knock Out showed up.” Ratchet continued. “Knock Out kidnapped a human that was participating in the race and the others are having difficulties catching up to him. From your location, you should be able to intercept him if you take the next right.”  
“On my way, Ratchet.” Optimus said, accelerating well above the speed limit and easily taking the next right before Kayden even saw the road.  
As they continued down the road, Kayden could see the oncoming headlights that appeared to be from a car. They were low and fast and Optimus tightened the seat belt around her, telling her to brace herself as he swerved to collide with the speeding car. It spun out and released a yelp that sounded like the Decepticon from the museum heist a couple of days ago.  
The car spun out into the ditch but did not transform, most likely due to the human inside. Kayden climbed out when Optimus opened the door for her and followed after him when he transformed and walked towards the car. He easily lifted the bright red vehicle up and tore off the door, earning another shout from the con. Optimus carefully pulled out the human, a boy about the age of Jack as the car swung away and transformed a safe distance away. Knockout rubbed his arm where his car door was missing and flared up at Optimus.  
“You damaged my finish!” He shouted.  
Kayden peaked out from behind Optimus’s leg to look at the first Decepticon she had seen up close aside from Starscream and the Vehicons. He wasn’t as tall as the others, a brighter red than Optimus and had a level of sass that she could appreciate. He seemed ready to fight until the headlights of Bumblebee and Arcee came into view. Seeing odds stacked against him, Knock Out turned tail and rolled out.  
Optimus turned to his two teammates and glanced down at Jack who had ridden on Arcee. The three seemed to be filled with guilt and remorse over the decision that they had made that night. Optimus could see it too. Simple words were exchanged and Optimus handed the boy to Bumblebee as the three left to set everything right.  
Optimus then looked down to Kayden who was watching their tail lights disappear. Her hands were clasped behind her back and she swayed slightly as she stood. She noticed his stare and looked up at him, green eyes illuminated by the yellow street light in an almost eerie but peaceful manner.  
“Our talk was cut short, I apologize for that.” Optimus said, looking down the road that the other three had disappeared down.  
“It’s fine.” Kayden said, still watching him. “Can we continue?”  
Optimus turned back to her and nodded, a small smile forming on his faceplate. “I would enjoy that.” He said.  
“Could you also teach me how to read Cybertronian?” She asked, as he transformed back into a semi truck and let her into the cab.  
“I am not certain how easily it will be to learn our language.” Optimus admitted. He knew the spoken language at least would be impossible. Humans could never produce the complex sounds that they made to enunciate their speech.  
“I can understand nine Earth languages.” Kayden said. “I think I can handle one alien.”  
Optimus let out another hum that sounded like a low chuckle as he drove them through the Nevada desert and back to base.


	4. Thriller

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for all of the comments and kudos! ;v;   
> I think I went a little out of order, whoops XD  
> Next chapter will have some Kayden and Optimus moments!

Kayden leaned back against the foot of the couch, rubbing her eyes in hopes of magically washing away the tiredness and strain that had built up over the course of the day. In front of her were stacks of notes that had been written and rewritten to make up for losses caused by the collapse of her original home. She hadn't expected there to be so much that needed rewritten and she had found herself a week behind on her original goal. Though she had finished rewriting the missing parts but this was merely part of her thesis research and now she had to write it out in a coherent essay that the university professors could comprehend.   
She peeked past her arms, over at Ratchet who was busy trying to fix a tool that Bulkhead had broken. She had started to realize that the mech had gotten used to her over the past couple of weeks since she arrived. Kayden knew that it was due to her quiet nature and the fact that she was often busy with her own. Still, she enjoyed listening to the mech mutter under his breath about various complaints and problems. If only she could pronounce Cybertronian, then Kayden was certain that she would know a new array of colorful language.   
Turning back to the paperwork before her, Kayden decided to start cleaning up as the kids would be there soon. In the past, she would usually just find a little corner and continue her work, but ever since interacting with them and the Autobots, Kayden found it easier to focus once she had a nice break. This time, as the kids were walking up the stairs, they were discussing some school topic. Miko and Jack seemed to be arguing over the ethical side of whatever prank Miko had come up with. Raf trudged behind them, head down and dragging his feet. Kayden cocked her head to the side as her eyes followed the young boy who usually had a lot more pep in his step. As Raf slumped into the chair, she glanced back at Bumblebee, who was eyeing the boy with worry that even the other bots noticed. He let out a sad warble and beeping that Kayden didn't understand but also didn't need to. Something was seriously bothering Raf.  
"What's with the gloom and doom?" Miko asked, finally noting the younger boys mood. Her hand was on her hip as she stood beside the couch.  
Raf looked up and shook his head, forcing a smile. "It's nothing." He said.  
"How about a game then?" Miko suggested, holding up the game console remote. This caused Raf to light up but it was obvious that something was still nagging at him.  
The two began to play the racing game. Raf dominated it for the most part, but it was obvious that he was driving on cruise control. Kayden hugged her pillow close to her as she watched the two kids play. Jack, Bumblebee and Bulkhead had begun to cheer them on until Raf caused Miko to spin out and won the race. The girl whined at the loss as Raf and Jack left. Miko turned to Kayden and handed her the remote.  
"You're the only one who hasn't played, let's see what you can do!" She said with a large grin.   
Kayden hesitantly took the remote and looked down at the controls. There were numerous buttons and joysticks to use and she had no idea what did what. The other kids seemed to notice the look of confusion that covered Kayden's usually calm features.  
"Kayden, have you ever played a video game?" Jack asked, a bit of hesitation in his voice.  
"No..." Kayden admitted, feeling a bit embarrassed. Her cheeks flushed pink as Miko laughed.  
The younger girl scooted closer to Kayden and began to point at different buttons on the remote. "Time to teach you how to play then!" She cheered. "For now, you just need to now about how to change direction and which button is your acceleration." She pointed them out to Kayden and the older girl nodded.  
"Don't worry, first race is just so you can get used to the controls." Raf reassured her.   
The game started and Kayden learned quickly that the controls were much more sensitive than she originally thought. Miko and Jack laughed at the mistakes she made while Raf tried to give her advice on how to handle turns and obstacles. She finally reached the end of the race and had a new respect for people who played these easily. Now it was time for the real thing.  
The race started and Kayden had a good enough start but as the race continued, she made more and more mistakes. Miko and Jack were laughing again as the watching bots cheered. Kayden leaned closer a bit as she tried to keep on the track but a quick move from Raf and she was spinning out and lost the race. Raf cheered along with the others and Kayden leaned back against the couch with a sigh. She felt the eyes of others on her and glanced down at the kids.  
They had almost worried looks on their faces, as if they were treading on a boundary that they weren't quite sure how to cross. Then Kayden remembered that she was technically an adult to these kids. An adult with a very boring and dull interest in their eyes and that her general appearance may be equivalent to that of a librarian who isn't afraid of throwing you out for so much as whispering. Kayden turned to them and gave them a small smile as her hair fell across her face.  
"This is harder than it looks." She admitted in a soft voice, holding up the remote.   
"Wasn't it fun though?" Miko asked and Kayden gave her a small nod. Miko beamed and hooked her arm around Kayden's. "Dont worry, I'll teach you how to play better and then we can take down Raf!"  
She pointed at the younger boy who seemed to be in a better mood. He adjusted his glasses and smirked. "I’ll await your challenge." He joked.   
The gaming continued for a couple more hours before being changed to a battle for the TV that was won by Kayden who chose a crime show that surprisingly engrossed all of them into it. When it was finally time to go home, all four were stiff from sitting for so long. They all stretched, letting out small grunts as bones popped. Bulkhead offered Kayden a ride home as he noticed the girl collecting her files.  
"Do you need to be picked up tomorrow?" Optimus asked her as they were headed to leave. Kayden looked up at Optimus and shook her head. She intended to go through all of her files tomorrow and that was going to take most of the day. The mech nodded and watched as they left the base.

The next day, Kayden found herself knee deep in books and dust as she finally took the time to clean the items that had survived the vacation home's destruction. A needle and thread were beside her hand, threaded and ready to be used to help prevent the pages from falling part. Restoring old books had been an activity she learned in her first year of college and one she enjoyed thoroughly. Kayden often pondered how her life would go and considered going into restoration if something ever caused her to leave the Ancient Literature department. Using a Q-tip, she cleaned out the crevices with a leather oil. The binding was falling apart, the spine broken and in need of replacing. The glue still held strong though which would make it a bit more difficult to repair. She traced her fingers over the rough edges of the cover, frayed from time. A small scorch mark was obvious against the green leather, a cigarette burn that her grandfather had admitted to causing years before she was born. Kayden smiled at the old story fondly and placed the book down on a sunny part of the table to dry.  
Old books and papers, antique maps and pictures, worn down clothes and furniture. Kayden seemed to always be attracted to older things. Her relationship with her grandfather was better than the one she had with her father and the first group of people she associated with outside of the university were ancient titans estimated to be millions of years old. Kayden liked old things, they were far more interesting after all.  
An alarm went off on Kayden's phone and she opened it to see that the high school had let out. She had made the decision to take a break at this time and go for a walk. Maybe she'd run into the kids as she did and she needed to get some fresh air. Kayden liked old things, but she couldn't deny that the kids had started to grow on her. Even the clumsy picture of her and Miko together was still the wallpaper of her phone after the younger girl had taken it forcefully. She didn't have the heart to change it, and it was nicer than the generic flower that came with the cellphone.   
Standing up, Kayden dusted off and slid her phone into her back pocket before unearthing her boots from under a pile of clothing and walking outside. The Nevada heat was high but dry and Kayden was greatful for that fact. DC was humid and sticky, making the late September air feel like summer in comparison. Though the constant glare of the sun was a less than thrilling addition to her new landscape.   
She walked down the sidewalk, head high as she watched the sky, acknowledging the cars that drove by in the corner of her eye. She had a quick pace and noticed that she had already entered the school district. Several students walked past, some glancing up at her as she moved to give them space. Before the school came in to view, Kayden noted the yellow muscle car that was parked on the edge of a parking lot that was connected to a doctor's practice. Beside it was a small playground, located down a steep hill. A grassy area was reserved for playing soccer with two kids nets on either end while a jungle gym and swing set were secured in a pit of mulch that had long since lost its color. Down on the soccer field was Raf, clumsily kicking a soccer ball between neon orange cones.   
Kayden stood next to Bumblebee's headlights, arms crossed as she watched the boy chase after the ball he'd lost control of. She glanced down at the mech in hiding and pointed to Raf. Bumblebee simply let out a small string of beeps and while Kayden had no idea what he said, she turned back to Raf and began to walk down the hill.   
The younger boy caught sight of Kayden as she made it to flat ground. He was holding the soccer ball and staring down at it when he recognized the new person as Kayden. Raf gripped the ball tightly, ignoring the warn edges scraping his fingers as his ears turned red. He refused to meet Kayden's eyes.  
"Why are you here?" He asked, a bit of a stutter in his voice.  
"A walk." Kayden answered simply, walking up to Raf and analyzing his set up with the cones. With one hand hanging loosely from her pocket, she pointed at the cones and have the young boy a quizzical look. Raf looked up at her due to her silence and turned around to the cones, dropping the ball and rolling it under his foot.  
"In Gym we have to dribble the ball through six cones and make a goal." He said with a defeated sigh. "I always lose control of the ball so I've been practicing."  
Kayden let out a small hum. She wondered if this was what caused Raf to be so upset the day before. He was a small kid who skipped grades and was expected to do things that would be too difficult for a kid that had yet to reach puberty. Kayden took a step to the side and kneeled down, placing her chin on her hands.  
"Can I watch?" She asked, lifting her chin in the direction towards the cones.  
Raf shuffled in his place awkwardly and looked between Kayden and the ball before nodding slightly. He picked up the ball and walked over to the line of cones. Kayden stayed kneeling and watched as the boy began to try and weave through the cones. He knocked over one and lost control of the ball several times. When he finally wound through the six cones, he kicked as hard as he could, causing the ball to hit the rim of the goal and bounce back towards Kayden. The ball bounced and rolled to a stop just a few feet in front of her. Raf looked defeated.  
Kayden lifted her hand and gestured for Raf to come back to where she was. The boy dragged his feet and stood nexttko the ball awkwardly, fingers tangling up as he looked down at his grass stained shoes. Kayden eyed the equally stained ball before focusing her eyes on Raf.  
"Want advice?" She asked, hoping her tone sounded friendly.  
"I'll talk whatever I can get." Raf said, a sense of desperation lacing his words as he looked up at Kayden.  
"You’re kicking with the wrong part of your foot." Kayden said.  
Raf looked up at her, dumbstruck but also curious. Kayden stood and used her foot to roll the ball closer. She set her foot beside the ball so that itsrested against the inner curve of her foot. Gently she pushed the ball to her left foot and then kicked it back. Raf watched as she smoothly moved the ball between feet and stopped it by stepping on it with her right.  
"The inner foot gives more control then the tip." She instructed. She looked back at the cones and the to Raf. "Try dribbling without the cones. Focus on just following the ball without worrying about where it goes."  
Raf gave her a nod and stopped the ball that she had nudged towards him before moving to the patch of grass next to the line of cones. This time Raf kicked softer and found that the ball was much easier to control. He didn't move around perfectly at first but he wasn't completely losing control either. After a few more tries, he went back to the cones and stumbled a bit but managed to dribble between them much quicker. When he reached the goal, he remembered what Kayden said about the inside of the foot giving more control and kicked with it. The shot wasn't strong or fast, a shot that could have easily been blocked by a goalie. But there was no goalie here and he didn't have to make some great shot. The ball flew into the net, letting out a small woosh as it bounced back onto the ground of the goal. Raf turned to Kayden and beamed, throwing his fists up to cheer.  
As Kayden was about to clap, an engine revved and a dark purple car flew off the top of the hill, transforming mid air and landing halfway between the two, crushing three of the cones under his feet. Kayden blinked and stared up at the Vehicon as it pulled its blaster on her. Before her feet could even register to run, the whirring sound of another transformation came from behind and a blur of yellow clashed into the Decepticon, plowing him to the ground. Raf ran away from the net as they began to scuffle. Amongst the explosions and the arrival of a flying Vehicon, the net and ball flew back to Kayden who was still watching Bumblebee fight, barely missing the girl.  
Her concentration was broken when Raf screamed and the sound of an opening ground bridge drowned out the blaster noises. Kayden's gut tightened as her eyes hovered on the sight of the Vehicon pointing a blaster at Raf, too scared to move. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see Optimus emerge from the ground bridge, but he wouldn't make it. Something in the back of Kayden's mind, a hunch, a gut feeling, an instinct that was crawling up her spine and into the back of her throat and making her want to gag.  
The soccer ball they had been so happily playing with was settled in the grass in front of Kayden, caught on a clump of overgrown grass, taunting her. It only took her a second to make her decision, a second to swallow that gag in her throat, half a second to locate the Vehicon's head and one last second to kick the soccer ball with all her might.  
The ball shot through the air with a whoosh before impacting the back of the Vehicons head with a flat thud, much louder than you'd expect to hear from such a soft ball. It projectiled off of the metal soldier, flying somewhere Kayden didn't dare look. The Vehicon had turned its attention to her and moved its blaster to face her instead of the terrified boy at its feet. It was just a few seconds, but those few seconds gave Optimus all he needed to transform his blaster and send the Vehicon flying straight into its comrade who had been facing Bumblebee.   
Kayden watched them tumble into each other and then scurry away at seeing Optimus and Arcee having come to back up Bumblebee. The yellow mech trotted over to his charge whom Arcee had made sure was alright. Optimus turned to Kayden and took several steps towards her as she approached him. Optimus released his blaster and knelt down in front of her in a way that she could glance over at Raf who was talking to Bumblebee.  
"Are you unharmed?" Optimus asked, his eyes watching Kayden, scanning her for the cuts and bruises that humans were so easily susceptible to. Kayden gave him a slow nod and looked out at the area of the jungle gym where the soccer ball had landed behind. "I believe that deserves being called a nice shot." He gave her a slight grin as Kayden covered her mouth with her hand to hide her own.  
Raf ran up to Kayden with the two Autobots trailing after him. "That was an awesome kick!" The boy exclaimed before running to get his ball.  
As Optimus stood up, Arcee turned to Kayden with what seemed to be a satisfied smirk. "That was some quick thinking." She admitted, turning to Bumblebee who was making some happy whooping noises.  
"I kicked on instinct." Kayden admitted as Raf returned, ball in hand. She noticed that a patch on the warn down ball had been torn off and she wondered if that was from her kick or from the collission with the Vehicon.  
"Instinct or not, it was a good kick." Arcee said with a shrug.   
Kayden nodded and followed them through the ground bridge.

***

Raf practically ran up the stairs, tripping over the metal steps a couple of times and nearly dropping his bag along the way. When he reached the platform, out of breath, he scanned it until he found Kayden. She was sitting on the couch, using the coffee table as a foot stool as she read a book that looked like it was in ancient Greek. He ran up to her, tossing his stuff to the side as he stood as tall as he could. Kayden noticed his arrival immediately and carefully closed the book and gave her full attention to the younger boy who obviously wanted it.  
"I passed the soccer test!" He exclaimed, giving her a toothy smile. "I managed to dribble the ball and score and even my gym teacher was impressed!"  
Kayden felt a bit of pride swell in her chest at his words. Raf had practiced so hard with her just the other day and she was proud to see that he had succeeded. With a soft smile, Kayden raised both of her hands. Raf clapped his own against them in a congratulatory gesture that caught the attention of the other two.  
"So that's what all of the ruckus was about during gym." Jack said, taking a seat. "Everyone was talking but I couldn't figure out what."  
"The 'what' was that Raf succeeded and made sure that no one could make fun of him again." Miko grinned before turning back to the bots who had begun talking seriously.  
"I fear I know what Starscream may have in mind." Optimus said, cutting through their conversation. The group turned to their titan friends as they continued their conversation. "If he truly wishes to raise the fallen Skyquake, then we must stop him."  
Kayden felt a little left out as Optimus begun to talk about someone she didn't know. Fallen meant dead, so raising him would be zombies… robot zombies. So Miko hadn't been lying about them. She took a glance at said girl and noticed a playful gleam in her eyes.   
"We're heading out." Bulkhead told them as the group began to go into the ground bridge.   
"Kick butt." Miko said casually, picking up a magazine. Jack gave her a look and before they could react, the rebellious girl was off like a flash, running towards the ground Bridge. Jack noticed and tried to go after her but tripped over the crate they had been using as an end table.   
Raf and Kayden exchanged looks before following after the other two. Jack managed to catch Miko at the entrance of the ground bridge, grabbing her by the wrist and beginning to argue.  
"If you think I'm going to miss seeing a zombie-con then you have another thing coming!" Miko said, struggling against Jack's grip.  
"Why do you always act like this is all just some sort of game?" Jack yelled as Kayden and Raf caught up to them.  
Miko managed to break his grip and ran off through the ground bridge, not even noticing that she had dropped her phone. Jack let out a frustrated grunt, messing with his hair and looking between Raf and Kayden.   
"The Autobots won't even know she's there. She could get hurt!" He said, glancing back down the bright green swirl of the ground bridge.  
Kayden patted his shoulder and nodded towards it. "Let's go. I'll take responsibility." She said, moving past Jack to begin trotting through the portal. Jack let out an audible sigh, looked down at Raf once more before following after Kayden.  
A queasy feeling passed through them as they exited the portal and found themselves in a rocky canyon. They were up on a small cliff with no real hiding spots. Miko was ahead of them, eyes focused on the bots who were facing off against a single Decepticon, Starscream. The three humans made their way to the girl and Jack put his hand on Miko's shoulder, causing her to turn around quickly.  
"You followed me?" She asked, looking between the three of them.  
"To make sure you don't do something stupid!" Jack exclaimed, crossing his arms over his chest. Miko huffed and began searching her pockets.  
Kayden eyed the battle ahead of her. A part of her understood why Miko wanted to see these bots fight so much. A sense of excitement and adrenaline had rushed through her when she watched them before. She had been glued to her spot as that twist of excitement rose in her gut, like the feeling of riding up the tallest drop of a roller-coaster. She swallowed the lump in her throat and tried to control the tug at her lip as Optimus shoots off Starscream's arm, causing the seeker to scream in response.   
Starscream began to yell for a ground bridge but his panicked pleas were drowned out by a pissed off teenager that was Miko.   
"You made me lose my phone!?" The girl shouted, fists clenched as she leaned towards Jack. The teen boy was moving away, obviously surprised at her sudden shouts.   
The Autobots quickly looked towards the kids in shock. Kayden noticed Optimus's stare and waved at him before he sighed and touched the finial on the side of his helm, calling Ratchet for a ground bridge to take them back to base. A move that should have been easy enough, if two ground bridges didn't appear at the same time.  
One located behind the position that the humans held, another besides the panicked Starscream who fled into it. Optimus noticed a rumbling coming from the grave of Skyquake and he quickly turned back to the humans who were attempting to pacify Miko. If he didn't get them through the ground bridgd, they would have to witness a powerful warrior like Skyquake as an immortal puppet of the dark energon. They would be in grave danger.   
"Get through the ground bridge, now." He told them, his tone was even but he was serious.   
Kayden seemed to get that Optimus was not joking around as she steered Miko to the ground bridge forcibly and decided to ignore the green and metal hand that forced itself out of a rock pile. As soon as the four entered the ground bridge, Kayden felt the hairs on her neck stand on end. Something was wrong.  
The groundbridge began to shake and the swirling dizziness increased to the point that the kids could barely stand. A rush of wind, pushing at them and suddenly an explosion and collapse of the bridge sent them flying. Kayden felt her body collide with rock, hard enough to knock the air out of her. A dull throb filled her arm as she turned onto her stomach and pushed herself up, ignoring the light headed rush that went through her skull. Pushing her hair away, Kayden looked around and found Miko, Jack and Raf starting to right themselves as well.  
Rubbing her eyes as her vision cleared, Kayden noticed that the hard surface they hit wasn't the base floor, but the rock floor of the canyon they were told to escape from. Kayden turned around and found the Autobots standing not too far away. Miko stood up, rubbing her head.  
"What happened?" She asked, glancing between them.  
"Something went wrong with the ground bridge." Raf said as Jack helped him up.  
"Ratchet, did the children make it through the ground bridge?" Optimus asked, his voice as low as normal but it felt almost distant. The four humans looked up at him with equal confusion.   
"Hello! We are right here!" Miko shouted. When the Autobots didn't respond, Miko ran up to Bulkhead and began to shout at him. "Woah!" Miko covered her head with her arms as Bulkhead's massive foot went right through her.  
"Okay, what just happened?" Jack asked, looking at Kayden who was watching Miko's disturbed and perplexed expressions.  
"It's like an alternate dimension." Raf said.  
"Strange sky." Kayden said, pointing up to the sky which had been diluted with a gray tone to it.  
"What is going on?" Miko shouted, flailing her arms at the bots who had begun to make their way towards a ground bridge.  
Kayden's attention was snagged by the sudden appearance of Skyquake standing tall, with a slight sway and glowing purple optics. She pointed out the zombie-con, the kids turned to view him begin to stalk up behind the Autobots. Miko shouted first, trying to warn Bulkhead who was in the back. Jack and Raf followed suit but their words fell on deaf ears as Skyquake's claws went straight through Bulkhead. The zombie-con stared at his handjin confusion and continued to try attacking until the Autobots disappeared through the now closed ground bridge.  
"Alright! He can't touch them either!" Miko cheered.   
"But doesn't that mean he's in here with us?" Jack asked. Skyquake turned around and easily spotted the four humans who were in clear view. "Run!"  
They turned on their heels and immediately began to run from the risen Decepticon warrior. The heavy foot steps of the titan was enough to cause them to lose their footing at times and Raf ended up falling, losing his glasses as Jack and Kayden helped him up and went behind a rock that Miko had found to hide behind.  
"At least he's slow, just like a normal zombie!" Miko joked, wishing she had her phone to take pictures.  
"You do realize that all of this is your fault!" Jack said in a hushed shout.  
"I never asked you to follow me!" Miko hissed.  
"Welll I'm sorry for being worried about your safety!" Jack turned to her, leaning closer.  
"Uhm… I need my glasses." Raf said, squinting his eyes as he tried to see.  
"What are you, an old man?" Miko groaned before huffing at the look that Jack gave her. She glanced up at Skyquake before bolting towards the glasses. Dodging the zombie-con's clawed hands, she managed to snag them and return to their hiding spot and tossed them to Raf. "There, easy." She gloated.  
Jack released a stressed grunt as a shadow passed over head and Skyquake looked down at them. He let out an ear-splitting screech and the four humans were running again.  
Though slow, the difference in sizes caused Skyquake to always be right behind the humans who were quickly running out of breath and energy. The rocky terrain didn't make it any easier as all of them found themselves tripping over rocks and uneven ground. They couldn't even find a decent place to hide due to Skyquake having such a large range of vision. As they rounded a corner, they stopped behind another cluster of rocks, trying to catch their breaths as sweat dripped down their necks. Kayden moved her hair off of her neck and looked up to see the original pile of rocks that Skyquake had emerged from-the same pile they'd been running past over and over.   
"A loop…" she said under her breath.  
Jack looked up at what Kayden was eyeing and his eyes went wide. "There’s no way out…" he said, leaning back against the rock. "We've been running in circles."  
"Okay so we're trapped, but our bots will be trying to find us." Miko said, wiping sweat from her chin as Raf cleaned his glasses.  
"And how are they going to find us?" Jack growled. He stood up and pointed a finger at Miko. "All of this happened because of you!"  
Miko was about to bark back when Kayden tapped Jack's shoulder. The teen turned to her, about to yell at her too until Kayden cupped his cheeks with her hands, eyes level with his. Jack expected to see anger or annoyance, but all he saw was that Kayden was calm despite her short breaths and flushed cheeks.  
"Calm." She said softly. "This isn't the time to fight."   
Jack felt his shoulders loosen as Kayden released her grip on his head. She glanced back up at Skyquake who was searching for them.   
"Take a deep breath and let's decide what we need to do." She continued, looking between the three of them. "We can scream and panic afterwards."  
The three nodded and simultaneously took a deep breath, though Miko held it a bit longer. Raf's shaking stopped, Miko didn't bounce from foot to foot and Jack's eyes became steady.  
"Let's try and contact the Autobots." He suggested, pulling out his cellphone.  
"Do you think we can do it through an alternate dimension?" Raf wondered. The space they had fallen into was a fourth dimensional layer, there had to be interference.  
"Won't know till we try." Jack stated, calling Arcee. He held it to his ear as it rang. They all stepped closer at the sound that it had been picked up. "Hello? Arcee? Can you hear me?"  
A loud static came across the phone, causing all of them to reel back and rub at their ears. Despite not being on speaker, the high pitched crackle caught the attention of Skyquake and once again the four humans were on the run.  
"It connected but I couldn't hear anything." Jack explained, staring at the screen as they jumped over a rock.  
"It must be like how they couldn't hear us before." Raf said, holding Kayden's hand. "Their is a connection but sound can't cross."  
They ducked behind another rock and Miko leaned against Jack's shoulders. "What if you send a text message?" She suggested.  
"That might work!" Raf said after some consideration.  
"But how?" Jack asked as Kayden played guard for them. Her eyes were concentrated on their surroundings, body steady and eyes strong.   
"Dude, text me." Miko said. "You did cause me to drop my phone back at the base!"  
The two boys finally got it and quickly began to set up the text. They hit send and the three crowded together as it successfully sent. They gave a cheer and Kayden glanced back at them before hushing them and hiding down.  
"So now what?" Miko whispered.  
"We need to figure out a way to survive until the Autobots manage to get to us." Jack said.  
"What about Skyquake?" Raf asked, getting smaller as the Decepticon passed by their hiding spot.  
"Slow him down?" Kayden suggested.  
"This is a rock canyon." Jack pondered. "If we can knock something onto him…"  
"What about blasting him with a missile?" Miko suggsted.  
"That would be an amazing idea if we had a missile." Jack hissed. Miko raised her eyebrows and pointed across the rocky valley at a metallic structure that was just in sight. It was Starscream's arm, his arm that was equipped with a missile. "Okay, that's convenient."  
Miko grinned and Kayden looked up at Skyquake. When the titan turned away, they rushed across the valley and hid behind the skinny arm. It was thinner than even Arcee's and it made Kayden question how much fighting strength the con actually had. Underneath the arm was a long missile, the type you'd usually see attached to air force fighter jets. The kids tried to move the arm to balance it up on a rock so that they could angle the shot as Raf kept guard.  
Kayden crouched down beside Jack and put her arms under the wrist, trying to ignore the ground shaking foot steps of Skyquake. With a loud huff and a few grunts, the three of them managed to get the arm in position right as Skyquake took notice of them. Miko began to fumble around with the hand, looking for the switch that Starscrram always hit to use the missiles. She found it and with a loud click, the missile was sent flying towards Skyquake as they got blow backwards by recoil.  
The missile impacted against Skyquake with a loud explosion and the four humans cheered at the thought that they had successfully downed the zombie-con. However, as the smoke cleared, the excitement turned to panic as Skyquake's hand fell off butthre rest of him was generally okay.  
"I will curse Starscream and his weak aft missiles." Miko groaned.   
The detached hand suddenly stood up and began to crab crawl towards them at a much quicker pace than its body, causing Miko to scream and once again they were running. This time, fear laced the adrenaline as the hand proved to be much more terrifying than the body due to its speed and dexterity. It wad a hand, but a hand that was big enough to squash them like bugs.   
A ground bridge appeared ahead of them, not distorted by the gray tone of the shadow zone that they were trapped in and all four of them had the same thought-it was their ticket home. But as they got closer, that ticket became blocked by a one armed Starscream who was contemplating the ground bridge. He could see it, which meant it connected back to that side. They stopped right in front of the opening, realizing that Starscream couldn't see them. Miko looked behind them and noticed that the hand was getting closer. She gripped Jack's arm and began to panic.  
"What are we going to do?" Shd exclaimed, looking between the ground bridge and the zombie hand.   
"Wait." Jack said, his eyes focusing on the green swirling portal before him. He took Raf and Miko's hands before glancing at Kayden.  
Kayden glanced back at the hand and then up at Starscream and she finally realized what Jack was intending to do. She gripped Miko's hand as the girl was still panicking and gave Jack a nod. Her eyes focused on the portal as she gave Miko a gentle squeeze in hopes to calm her as the hand came closer and closer.  
"Now!" Jack shouted and instantly the four ran to the ground bridge and jumped.  
The feeling of passing through the ground bridge was ignored by the nagging feeling of needing to run. Starscream stepped back in shock as the four of them ran out of the portal and between his legs.   
"The humans?" He shouted, his instinct telling him to capture them as another ground bridge opened. The seeker just made out the appearance of Optimus Prime emerging from it. His attention was stolen when the hand of Skyquake broke out of the ground bridge before him and attacked him. Starscream let out a shocked scream as he began to fight with the hand.  
Miko let out a loud laugh as she ran up to Optimus who had knelt down to look at them. Miko hugged his leg and looked up at him, stress reaching her features as Raf joined the leg hug.  
"You can see us right? You can hear us and see us?" Miko stressed, even though she was physically touching the mech. Optimius gave her a nod and covered both Miko and Raf with his large servo,lightly touching their backs as Kayden and Jack stopped right before him.  
"I can both see and hear you." He confirmed and Jacklegt out a sigh of relief. Optimus looked up at Starscrram who was fighting with the hand still as the ground bridge to the shadow zone disintegrated. "Let us return to base."  
Miko and Raf bolted towards their ground bridge with Jack right behind them. Kayden trotted next to Optimus as they left the Decepticon behind to his fate.  
Once in the base, Miko, Jack and Raf were being doted on by their charges as well as being given lectures for being reckless and foolish in their actions. Kayden felt glad that she didn't have a guardian to give her such a talk but a glance up at Optimus wiped that thought straight from her mind. He was in lecture mode.  
"I am disappointed in the choice that you four made today." He said. "You put yourselves in grave danger and we may not have been able to save you."  
Miko trotted up to the leader, fists clenched and eyes steady. "Hang on Optimus, this was my fault!" Miko explained. "I was the one who ran off, the others were just trying to make sure I didn't get hurt."  
Optimus's features softened and his shoulders slacked. He let out what sounded like a sigh. "Your admittance to fault is admirable." He said, giving Miko a nod. "But I do not intend to punish you as I believe your experiences today are lesson enough."  
"Yeah I think I'm burnt out on zombie-cons for a while." Miko said with a grin.   
A few of them laughed as Bulkhead and Bumblebee began to pester them for details on what went down. Kayden began to follow them towards the stairs but was stopped by Optimus who leaned down beside her.   
"Kayden, I have been considering this for some time but I believe it is best if you were assigned a guardian as well." Optimus said. "It seems that you get dragged along by the others quite easily and so I think it would be best for you if I were to accompany you from now on."  
Kayden gave him an apologetic look and placed her hands in her pockets. He had probably been hoping that she would try and stop Miko because she was the oldest but deep down, Kayden was still just as much of a kid.  
"You?" She asked, tilting her head.  
"Ratchet is too busy and your schedule is very different from the children." Optimus said. "Are you alright with this?"  
Kayden tapped her cheek with her index finger before giving him a nod. Optimus nodded in return before leaning a bit closer. He hovered closely beside Kayden, so close that she believed that she could reach out and touch him.  
"I have also finished the books you left me and was wondering if I could get the next one?" He whispered.   
Kayden tangled her fingers together and gave him another nod. Optimus stood up after giving her a thankful nod. Kayden walked over to the stairs where Miko was telling the events and Raf butted in with correct terms when the girl occasionally mistranslated in her excitement. She took a spot against the railing, next to Jack. The teen had been watching her and Optimus but now his eyes had focused on his hands. Kayden could tell that they were shaking.  
"Thanks for earlier." Jack said suddenly, glancing up athrer.Kaydren gave him a questioning look and he continued. "Earlier when I was pissed and panicking, you calmed me down… you calmed us all down."  
Kayden rested her arms on the railing and leaned forward. Her eyes traced the Autobot logo on the floor as her mind tried to figure out what to say. But Jack seemed to have gotten used to her silence and continued what had been tugging at his mind.  
"How were you able to stay calm?" He asked. "How are you always so calm?"  
Kayden looked at him her hair falling back against her face as she studied his stressed features. Kayden turned around, leaning back against the railing ad turning her gaze to the ceiling of the base. Pipes and metal beams crisscrossed and the rocky ceiling was swallowed in darkness.  
"I think it's because I've stopped caring about what happens around me." Kayden said softly.   
"Is that why you just accepted all of this?" Jack asked, gesturing towards the rest of thebasre. He hadn't been able to accept it so easily and even Raf had some problems, even if he stayed. Miko also didn't seem to care but she still panicked and was scared. Kayden's reaction to all of this was different, like she was detached from the world.   
"It's easier for me to live like this." Kayden closed her eyes before looking at Jack. "But don't try to mimic me."  
Jack couldn't help but smile. "Dont worry, I like having caution and common sense." He joked. His eyes turned downward. "But I wish I could remain calm when things get tough."  
"Some people just aren't the types to panic, but everyone is afraid of some thing." Kayden assured him.  
"So what are you afraid of?" Jack scoffed.  
Kayden covered her lips with her finger and a small smirk tugged at them. It was a secret.


	5. Toxic

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Was going to hold off writing the events of this chapter but I couldn't come up with anything else so I added it in. Ended up turning out for the better.  
> I did some research and made some edits to chapter 3 to match the information in this chapter in regards to pre-war Cybertronian.   
> I hope you enjoy!

Optimus Prime was the first to notice that something was off with Kayden. The young human was hard to read to start with, but for the last couple of weeks, she'd been distant and detached from not just fellow humans, but from life itself. Multiple times Jack found himself forcing her to eat something after realizing that whatever was taking up her thoughts had over ridden Kayden's survival instincts.   
Multiple times, Optimus found Kayden deep in thought on her computer or making short calls on her phone. She made multiple calls, despite having only ever picked it up for himself or Miko. Kayden was a quiet person by nature and the only time she talked a lot was about her studies and he was certain that stage planning and whatever a slide show was had nothing to do with it. He had attempted to talk to Kayden but she had dismissed him with half mumbles and slight nods.   
Kayden had been so absorbed into whatever was occupying her processor that she missed several events. A scraplet invasion where Miko had stated that Kayden actually killed several scraplets despite being totally out of it. It reminded Optimus of how she'd kicked the soccer ball at the Vehicon on instinct and he wondered if she truly had that underlying instinct to defend. But it wasn't just scraplets that had caused problems.  
Optimus had come down with the plague right when Kayden up and disappeared. Miko had messaged her and she simply said 'school'. They had decided to contact Agent Fowler at that time, to make sure she was in fact okay and even when he confirmed that she was at her university, something just didn't sit right with them.  
It was several days before Kayden returned to base and in that time period, Megatron had invaded Bumblebee's processor after a high risk mission to save Optimus was undertaken. They managed to get the Warlord out, but now Megatron had returned in all of his glory and his plans for conquring Earth were started all over again. A human threat called Mech had even emerged, throwing everyone for a loop, especially Agent Fowler who never thought his own side would turn on them.  
Several events had happened, many things had changed and Kayden had remained oblivious to them until she finally stepped off of the bus in Jasper and called Optimus for the first time in almost two weeks. He seemed generally surprised and Kayden could hear the others talking but couldn't quite make out what they were saying.  
"I will meet you at your house." Optimus stated before hanging up.  
Kayden looked down at her phone, a little confused at the tone that he had used. He seemed almost pissed. Did she call at a bad time? Did something happen while she was forced to return to the university for a lecture and then was stuck running around for her professor since she wanted to take advantage of Kayden being in DC? Kayden scratched her neck as her mind reeled over what could possibly have happened. 

Kayden had reached her house before Optimus and took the time to change and empty out her suitcase. Clothes were tossed into a half empty hamper while books and paperwork were gently placed on her desk. She was abouttko shuffle through them when the loud and obvious honking of Optimus's horn blew. Kayden looked out the window, saw him parked on the curb and quickly grabbed her bag, tugged on her boots and ran out.   
Optimus had opened the passenger door for her and she easily climbed in, closing the door behind her as the mech began to drive.  
"It has been a while." Optimus said after a few seconds of silence. "A lot has happened."  
"Miko will tell me." Kayden said, knowing that the girl would be bouncing in her seat in anticipation to inform her of everything she had missed. It was a trait Kayden really liked about Miko, she never left anyone out of the loop.  
“Kayden, why did you not inform us of your whereabouts?” Optimus questioned. He had turned out of Jasper, heading down the long desert road that would eventually lead to the mighty rock that their base was hidden in.  
“I told Miko.” Kayden’s reply was short, her absent mind staring off into the red desert, remembering the details and the look of a cloudless sky that she had started to miss when she returned to the busy streets of the capital.   
Optimus began to slow down and ex-vented. He was not happy with Kayden’s answer and it was obvious that the girl did not seem to understand the severity of what happened. As the base came into view, he made an objective decision to continue the drive. This was going to be a conversation he was to have with Kayden, alone.  
“That is not the point I am trying to make.” Optimus said, passing the base and noticing the slight arch in Kayden’s brow, a confused look in her eyes before she went back to staring at the desert in acceptance of whatever he intended to do. “You were not acting like yourself before you left.”  
“Had stuff I was doing.” Kayden muttered, not feeling like she needed to explain herself to him. She never explained anything to anyone.  
“You vanished without a word. We had to have Agent Fowler track your location to ensure that it was not Megatron who had taken you.” Optimus told her sternly.   
Kayden didn’t say anything, but Optimus could feel her body stiffen as she came to understand exactly why he was upset. Her eyes became unfocused, no longer staring at the desert, but instead at her own faint reflection in his window. Optimus tilted his side mirror, trying to read the expression that was on her face.  
Kayden bit the inside of her cheek as Optimus’s words played over and over in her head. She hadn’t told anyone where she was going, she never did, she never saw a reason to do so other than out of spite… but this wasn’t her old home, she wasn’t dealing with her father. This was the Autobots, this was Optimus… and they had every right to know when she had to leave because she was no longer just a college student with a thesis due but a human ally with a giant target on her back for Decepticons to pick out.  
She leaned her head against his window with a thunk and let out a deep sigh as she came to realize her mistake. “Sorry.” She said, biting the inside of her cheek again as she stared at the lock on the door.  
“Thank you.” Optimus said. He was glad that this had been easy as he had been worried that Kayden would argue back. He still didn’t quite know how to read her and in a sense, she was almost as unpredictable as Miko. “But I’d like to ask, why did you forego informing us that you would be absent?”  
Kayden looked up at the radio where Optimus’s disembodied voice had been speaking from. She leaned her head back, letting out a disgruntled hum as she tried to figure out exactly how she could tell him in a way that made sense.   
“I never told people before.” She finally answered  
“Was it because you had no one to tell?” Optimus questioned. Had she gotten into a habit of never saying where she was going simply because she never had anyone tell?  
“No, Father always wanted to know..” Kayden grumbled  
“So why didn’t you tell him?” Optimus prodded.  
“Spite.”  
Optimus went silent for several seconds and Kayden was certain that she felt his engine slow. “Please elaborate.”  
Kayden let out a low sigh. “I hate my father so I always disobeyed him.” She said. “He always demanded to know where I went and I never told him. It easily became a habit to avoid and ignore the issue…”  
“A habit that you unintentionally used on us?” Optimus surmised.  
Kayden simply nodded and turned her attention back to the window. It hadn’t been her intention to do so and she hadn’t even noticed until Optimus pointed it out. The mech let out a slight hum as he contemplated. He understood better where she was coming from now but he still hoped she understood why they were so worried about her.  
“I can understand more of your point of view but please at least inform me if you need to go somewhere for any reason.” Optimus asked, a slight plea in his tone.  
“I will.” Kayden promised.  
A comfortable silence fell between the two as Optimus started to go in the direction of the base. He didn’t quite understand human family structure just yet. It seemed to vary greatly from family to family and from what the kids had told him, can be totally different from the actual definition of the word. Their small team could be considered a family and it was one filled with trust but it was obvious that the family Kayden had, was something more complicated. Was it even considered family?  
“Kayden, I wish to ask something… a bit more private.” Optimus ventures. “Please inform me if I have overstepped my boundaries.”  
Kayden gave him a nod and the mech continued. “I understand that most human families consist of a father and a mother. Why do you never mention your mother?” He asked.  
Kayden's breath hitched in the back of her throat, creating a burning sensation as she began to stare holes into her knees. “She died giving birth to me. I never met her.” Kayden said bluntly and with a tone that made it obvious that she had no intention of going any further with the topic.  
Optimus mentally slapped himself for bringing up the topic. “My condolences.” He said before a silence fell over them again.  
As they drove up to the base, Optimus apologized to Kayden for bringing up things that were difficult to speak about. He felt that he had forced her to reveal secrets that she wasn’t quite ready to share. Kayden leaned back against the seat as she watched the rock doors open.  
“Then next time tell me more about Cybertron.” She said.  
“I can do that.” Optimus promised.

***

It had been three days since Kayden made her return to Jasper and she had spent the first day listening to Miko recount everything that happened while she was away. Including the part about the scraplets which she was apparently there for but had completely forgotten about. Jack could not understand how she managed to forget hitting a home run with a scraplet using a sledgehammer but all Kayden could think of was that she had been running on autopilot.  
The next day was spent explaining everything she had been doing that caused her to zone out the world for two weeks. She promised that it was nothing interesting, but Miko had insisted. Which is how she spent thirty minutes explaining about how she was interning for a professor who decided to give her the task of setting up his lecture despite it being the job of his assistant since he never believed she’d never make it past being someone’s assistant. Then her professor caught her being at the university and had her do several tasks for her, including organizing an entire section of the music library because someone got drunk, managed to capture several ducks and let them loose in the library. Kayden had honestly been more impressed in the fact that the ducks had been not only been caught the first time but then caught the second time in a library with twenty foot tall shelves. Miko enjoyed this part of her story telling.  
Now that it was the third day, Kayden found herself in Optimus’s cab with the windows down as the sun set painted the sky orange and the desert shades of blue and purple. The hot air cooled down enough that the breeze from the open window felt like perfection. It was the end of September but seasons never really changed in the desert.  
Optimus had been asking her various questions from several of the books that she had given him. Lately he had been into William Shakespeare and had just finished reading Romeo and Juliet though his views of the meaning of the story were very different from her own. Kayden believed that the story showed the power of an innocent love while Optimus was certain that the story was meant to display the foolishness of youth. They had battered back and forth on the topic which somehow delved into the topic of Mercutio and his apparent feelings for Romeo that seemed underlining.  
“I have found that the subject of his romantic interests is more of a modern topic.” Optimus stated as they drove further away from Jasper and into the rocky desert. “Is there a reason for this?”  
“Sexuality is a controversial topic for most of human society and it’s much more acceptable today versus back then.” Kayden said.  
“But why does it matter?” Optimus questioned.  
“It shouldn’t but because people don’t understand it, they reject it.” Kayden said, giving a slight shrug. “Do you not have genders?”  
“Not in the way that organics do.” Optimus replied. “While we do refer to ourselves as mechs or femmes depending on ones frame, we do not sexually reproduce.”  
“How are you born then?” Kayden asked, sitting up in the seat.  
“A pulse is generated through our planet and at specific hot spots, a spark is born. Over the course of several cycles, that spark begins to take the shape of a sparkling, or what you would call a child.” Optimus explained. “Generally one remains a sparkling for the course of a solar cycle, gradually getting plate upgrades until they have reached maturity. During that time, information is taught and downloaded and after a stellar cycle, they are ready to work.”  
“That’s quick.” Kayden noted. For a species that lives for millions of years, their maturation rate was much quicker than she expected. On Earth, it was pretty normal for longer living animals to mature much slower. “Who raises the sparkling?”  
“We call the one who finds the spark first to be the sire. They must wait until the sparkling is fully formed until handing them off to a chosen carrier or becoming the carrier themselves.” Optimus stated. “Generally a carrier is someone with a less dangerous job.”  
“Were you ever a sire or a carrier?” Kayden asked, finding the process to be interesting.  
“I was the sire to Bumblebee though his carrier was someone else.” Optimus said, a bit of fondness in his voice. This surprised Kayden and she wondered if the yellow bot was aware of this. The question was most likely written on her face as Optimus continues. “He is unaware that I am his sire. Most sparklings only remember their carrier.”  
“You won’t tell?” Kayden asked, noticing a plane flying in the distance.  
“There is no need to.” Was all Optimus said.  
Several seconds passed before Optimus came to a screeching halt as the plane flew overhead. Optimus paused where he had braked and Kayden watched as the plane seemed to land out of view.  
“Starscream…” Optimus muttered, engines puttering before he turned off the road and began to drive after the mech. He knew that he should call for a ground bridge and have Kayden safely returned to base, but something told him that there wasn’t enough time.   
Though unknown to most humans, several Cybertronian war sights littered the planet. Lost beneath millions of years of rocks and hidden away from view by the government to prevent panic over the thought of metal titans invading Earth. Some of these graves were shallow, however, as natural disasters pushed them to the surface and even if they could no longer give off energy signals, old war documents could tell anyone willing to read them right where the battles were fought. And one such battle had been in the area around Jasper, Nevada. A small one, barely large enough to be logged but a battle where both sides perished together.  
Starscream had already previously attempted to awaken Skyquake and despite his master being resurrected, Optimus was certain that Starscream would be willing to try his stunt again. They reached a gorge, carved into the rocks eons ago and large enough for even a mech of Optimus’s size to easily make it through. The gorge was lifted up on a shelf of rock that looked like it had begun to split and Kayden estimates that in a few thousand years, the entire gorge would collapse as the valley was made.  
Optimus transformed and ordered Kayden to wait just outside the gorge, hidden behind a cluster of rocks that ran next to the crack. The Autobot entered the gorge where Starscream was attempting to move a large boulder, a small shard of dark energon was securely gripped in his claws.  
“Starscream, stop your actions at once.” Optimus said, blaster raised and aimed at the seeker.  
Starscream shrieked in surprise and took several steps back. “What are you doing here?” He cried, pointing an accusatory finger at Optimus.   
“I highly doubt Megatron would be interested in the husks buried here.” Optimus stated, stepping closer. “What do you intend to do?”  
“That’s none of your business!” Starscream said, getting into a defensive position. “I do not merely follow the orders of Lord Megatron!” A sneer tone came out as he spoke the warlord’s name.   
Kayden peaked out from behind the rocks, noticing that the entrance to the gorge was only a few feet deep and that she was much closer to Optimus than she had originally thought. She glanced over at the crack in the ground, noticing that it had quite a large gap to it. Starscream’s raspy voice brought her back to the gorge as a fight broke out.  
Starscream let out a quick fire but Optimus merely shook it off before shooting at the seeker, hitting him in the wing hard enough to leave scorch marks. Starscream let out a painful cry and released one of the missiles on the arm that Kayden just now realized had been replaced. Did they have extra limbs or did he actually go into the shadow zone to get it?   
Several more blasts echoed through the air as Optimus managed to knock the dark energon shard out of his hand. The piece bounced off the wall of the gorge and out the way Optimus had gone in, bouncing several times before skidding to a stop just several meters from Kayden and just a couple of feet from the gap. From where she stood, Kayden could feel the stone pulsing as a sickening aura emitted from the stone. The insides of it seemed to move and Kayden had a sickly sweet bile gather at the back of her throat like the time she had tried drinking pure vanilla extract. She wanted to gag but held it back as Starscream began to run after the shard.  
Optimus tried to make a grab for the mech and failed, letting out a curse as he gave chase. Kayden heard the curse and looked between the seeker and the energon shard and her feet were moving before her mind made up what to do. From the corner of her eyes she could see Starscream dive for the shard but she had lowered herself and landed a sliding kick before he could reach.  
“Kayden, don’t!” Optimus shouted, his voice desperate as he grabbed Starscream’s wing.  
She felt her boot hit the dark energon just as he said this and she kicked it with enough force to send it into the gap. The sound of it bouncing off the sides of the gap began to fade until a very faint shattering could be heard. Kayden was sitting on her butt and looked up at Starscream and Optimus who were now towering over her as the last of the sun faded behind her. She stood up, backing away as Starscream managed to get free.  
“I’ll remember this, human!” He screeched, pointing at Kayden before flying off.  
Optimus didn’t even try to shoot him down as he rushed to Kayden and knelt down in front of her, hands wrapping around her like a shield. “Are you alright?” He asked, a bit urgent as he looked over the small human girl who was busily brushing sand off of her aft. “Do you feel sick?”  
“No?” Kayden looked at him quizzically as he scooped her up and stood.  
“Ratchet, I need to request a ground bridge.” Optimus said into his communication device. He didn’t say anything else as he moved quickly through the portal, keeping Kayden close to his chassis and thoroughly confused.  
“Is everything alright?” Ratchet asked. He hadn’t expected Optimus to need a ground bridge when he was simply patrolling the outskirts of Jasper.  
“Kayden came in contact with dark energon.” Optimus said, holding her up for the medic to see.  
This caught the attention of all bots in the base, who went silent and turned their attention to the other two. The kids looked over at them as well, confused.  
“How did this happen?” Ratchet asked, scanning Kayden.  
“Kicked a shard.” Kayden stated easily. She didn’t see the reason for the fuss.  
“Energon, especially raw energon is toxic to humans!” Ratchet scolded. “Optimus, take her into the decontamination bath. Bulkhead, burn her boots.”  
Kayden gave him a very questioning look but began to take off her boots as Optimus requested. She handed them over to Bulkhead before being carried away by Optimus. He brought her to a large room next to the main room that was sealed shut. The inside was a glass tube, wide enough for bots the size of Optimus and Bulkhead to get into with ease. Optimus pushed a yellow button that was next to the tube and it opened up with a whoosh.  
“You should stand.” Optimus told her as the door closed behind them. Kayden did so, her nose scrunching as a smell similar to alcohol was suffocating the air. “How are you feeling?”  
“Fine.” Kayden stated as a mist like substance burst out of several nozzles that dotted the shower. It was cold and soaked Kayden through almost instantly. Her clothes and hair clung to as she pushed moisture away from her eyes. A tingling sensation rose on her skin as well as a slight burn, like when hand sanitizer was used on a paper cut.  
Once the mist stopped, a fan came on, blowing the moisture away and nearly knocking Kayden right off of Optimus’s hand. The mech used his other hand to help brace her as the hot air managed to dry even her clothes, but completely frizz out her hair. Kayden ran her fingers through it, noting the rats nests that had formed. The decontamination bath was not meant for people with hair.  
They left the room and returned to the lobby where Ratchet had set up his medical table with several sheets. Optimus placed Kayden down onto them and took a step back to give Ratchet the room to work. The medic immediately gave Kayden a full body scan and began to ask her a list of questions.  
“How do you feel?”   
“Fine.”  
“Any dizziness?”  
“No.”  
“Vision lost?”  
“No.”  
“Burning sensation?”  
“No.”  
“Hmm, this doesn’t make sense.” Ratchet said, looking back at the computer. “I may not have the equipment necessary to monitor all aspects of the human body but you should be showing some signs of the toxicity.”  
Kayden looked up at him before she looked down at the sheets that he had prepared for her. They were creased in some places, feeling awkward under her bare feet. She shuffled slightly and tried using her right foot to even them out. As soon as she lifted her foot up, her sense of balance completely disappeared. She slammed her foot down, catching Ratchet’s attention but not before releasing the contents of her stomach onto his medical table.  
Everyone backed away at the sudden action as Kayden collapsed to her knees and let out several sputtered coughs. She used one hand to try and balance herself as the other covered her mouth. A choking sensation ran up her spine and into the back of her throat as her head became heavy. She nodded to the side, her vision splitting as she became unable to focus. A sharp pain shot up her spine and straight through the front of her skull like someone had set off firecrackers inside of her.  
“What did she do?” Ratchet asked the only other humans there in a panic.   
“She threw up, it’s a way our bodies get rid of things that are harmful.” Jack said, his eyes not leaving Kayden who had begun to shake. Her hair obscured her face but he was certain she was in pain. “Even if it amounts to nothing.”  
Ratchet let out a small mutter as he cleaned up the small mess and gently pushed Kayden down onto the sheets. Her body temperature had risen drastically, her breathing labored and her eyes had become glazed. Trembling started in her fingers and soon her whole body was visibly shaking. The dark energon was poisoning her body and she couldn’t do anything.  
“Why did her body temperature raise so much?” Ratchet questioned.  
“Another way we fight off viruses.” Jack said. “Our bodies try to burn it off.”  
“Aren’t bodily temperatures of this level also dangerous to you?” Ratchet questioned, taken aback by the human body’s way of handling sickness.  
“Yes.” Jack answered. “If our bodies get too hot it can cook our brains and we can basically shut down.”  
“There’s also chances of seizures and convulsions and going into shock.” Raf added. “Would energon poisoning be painful?”  
“Excruciating.” Ratchet said, mumbling about the human body being downright inefficient.  
A sudden jerking movement from Kayden drew his attention as she kicked her legs against the table with enough force to produce loud thuds. She was panting and clutching at her chest as she began to shake. Teeth clenched and tears streaming down her cheeks, she turned to her side and curled up slightly in an attempt to feel better. It didn’t work though as she let out a low gasp as a shot of liquid fire went straight up her spine.  
“If she doesn’t get stabilized, her body will shut down before the poison kills her.” Jack said, pointing to Kayden as Ratchet attempted to stop her struggling.   
Optimus watched Kayden, servos clenched and jaw tight. He should have warned her, all of them, that energon was toxic to humans. They knew this after watching three of Agent Fowler’s men die just an hour after being exposed to it. They hadn’t been able to do anything at that time and Ratchet hadn’t even been allowed to look at them. A shot of dread ran through him, shooting up his back and lodging at the back of his processor, biting at the chains that held together his anxiety and stress.   
Kayden was going to die and it was his fault.  
He couldn’t stop her in time.  
He couldn’t protect her.  
Kayden stomped her foot again and took in a sharp breath as she covered her eyes with her arm. She tried to control her breathing, fingers clenched into the sheets until her knuckles turned white. Ratchet could tell that it was taking everything she could to stay calm.  
“I can manage this…” Kayden croaked, moving her arm up to show her eyes.  
Ratchet stared down at her in disbelief but the strength he saw in her eyes was something he couldn’t just turn away from.  
“At this moment, all we can do is wait for your system to flush out the toxin. It was a small dose, so if you can manage the symptoms, your body may be able to do the rest.” He said, though his voice wasn’t that confident. “I am aware that humans generally put fluids directly into them in these situations but I’d like to avoid that to prevent the risk of the toxin reacting to it badly.”  
“What can we do then?” Optimus asked, stepping closer to the medical table. He had always believed that humans looked delicate, but seeing Kayden limp on the table, barely able to breath and skin flushed in sickness, he couldn’t help but see them as frail.   
“Her fever is our biggest concern. If we can cool her externally and then try to control her convulsions so that she doesn’t harm herself, we can prevent her body from shutting down.” Ratchet said. “As long as she can manage the pain.”  
He spoke solemnly on the last part, turning away from his patient who had gone back to covering her eyes and watching her vitals on his screen. Her heart rate was high and her fever stayed steady. In the back of his processor, he wanted to send her to a human hospital but no human could understand how energon worked. He didn’t even know how energon would work on the human body but he at least knew how energon worked and that could save Kayden’s life… hopefully.   
“Ratchet, we got what you need!” Miko said and the medic looked down at the platform where she and the boys were holding a variety of things. Jack had an armful of blankets, Miko carried a bucket of water with a couple of towels hanging off the side and Raf was holding several water bottles.  
“What are those for?” He asked suspiciously   
“For keeping Kayden’s temperature down, duh!” Miko said, holding up the bucket.  
“I don’t see-“ Ratchet began before getting interrupted by Jack as Optimus helped them onto the medical table.  
“Blankets are needed because humans can feel cold and shiver when having a fever, cold towels placed on the forehead help control the core temperature there.” Jack looked over at Raf who had placed the water bottles down. “Keeping hydrated with water is also really important.”  
“You seem very informed about this.” Ratchet said, impressed by the ways they had to maintain a fever.  
“This is actually common knowledge.” Jack said.  
“I guess when your bodies try to kill you in the process of killing a virus, you gotta know how to control it.” Arcee added.   
Miko carefully added a wet towel to Kayden’s forehead. The older girl looked up at her as drops of water trickled down her temple. Miko smiled at her and Kayden gave one back as she closed her eyes.  
“Thanks.”

Four days. For four days Ratchet watched Kayden as her body fought off the dark energon. She had several ups and downs as the toxin went through her system. Her convulsions became so bad at one point that Ratchet had to strap her down to prevent the girl from hurting herself. He could already see the dark discoloration of bruises dotting her skin in several locations.  
When she wasn’t beating up his medical bed with her feet and fists, Kayden was resting, fighting off the fever with shallow breaths that were ragged and hoarse. She had found that laying on her back was the most comfortable but she didn’t often have the energy to cover her face with her arm like she’d done on the first day. She’d kicked off the blankets several times as well.  
Optimus always seemed to be the first to notice this. He’d carefully use a single digit to push them back onto her. He had placed his digit against her cheek once to feel just now hot she was and Kayden and instinctively moved closer to his cool metal hand. He had stood there, frozen for over an hour until the children arrived and Miko offered to change her towel.  
The hardest thing to do was to get Kayden to drink. She had no energy to even lift the bottle but Raf offered her a straw and she managed to make small sips. Someone else had to hold the bottle though as between her fogged up, fever riddled mind and trembling fingers, Kayden had no real sensation in her body. There were times when Arcee would even help change the towel as she had the smallest hands.  
During those four days, the base was oddly quiet. The children didn’t chatter, no video games were played, band practice was canceled and everyone just quietly did things in the main room. Kayden’s ragged breathing and the consistent beeping of her heart on the monitor filled the base instead and it was as if the silence was done so that they could continue to hear her. Because as long as they could hear that hitch in her breath and that ragged exhale, they knew that Kayden was still alive.  
That was why, on the fourth day of her medical treatment, Optimus nearly felt his spark stop when the sound of the ragged breathing disappeared. Everyone in the room had noticed and a stillness filled the air until the familiar beeping of her heart continued.   
“She’s still alive.” Ratchet declared, relief in his voice as a collective sigh escapes them all. Each member of Team Prime stepped closer to the medical bed as Ratchet scanned Kayden. “Her heart rate is returning to normal and most of the fever is gone.”  
The children cheered and Optimus looked down at Kayden with relief in his eyes. Her face, though still pale, was no longer white as a sheet. Her face was still flushed but her brows no longer furrowed in pain but instead, she looked rather peaceful as she slept. She was alive, thank the All Spark, she was alive.  
“I’m still reading a small amount of Energon inside of her but nowhere near a level that we need to be concerned about poisoning.” Ratchet commented. “We should let her rest and wake up when she’s ready.”  
Later that night, the base was nearly empty as it always was on a weekday. The children had protested about going home since they wanted to be there when Kayden woke up but Optimus had convinced them otherwise. Their guardians were also concerned, asking Ratchet to let them know if she woke up while they were on curbside duty. Said medic was currently awake and working on some broken piece of equipment and glancing up at Kayden’s vitals every klick.  
Optimus was awake as well, though he found himself unable to focus on the tiny book in his servo and chose instead to watch over Kayden as she slept. At some point she had curled up on her side and was facing towards him. Optimus couldn’t help but stare and take in every tiny movement from the rising of her side to the slight movement of her fingers.   
He hadn’t intended on getting overly close with the humans under their protection. They were a valuable asset to the team, without a doubt, but he had felt the need to keep a distance and let his bots enjoy their company. And yet every day he looked forward to the conversations he would have with Kayden. Whether it was real life stories of written fantasies, they both seemed to hold an endless shelf of books in their processors. Debating over the meaning behind various topics and hidden messages was something he hadn’t enjoyed since his days in the Iacon Hall of Records and he often found himself wrapped up in the argumentative points that Kayden had.   
Kayden was no longer just his charge.  
She was no longer just one of the human members of Team Prime.  
She was a friend.  
Across from him, Kayden’s eyes fluttered open, unfocused and staring into nothing. Silence and several blinks were what it took for her to recognize Optimus and she carefully moved her hand out from under the pile of blankets Jack had put on her to give him a small and weak wave.   
Optimus waved back and moved closer but made sure that Ratchet noticed his movement. “It is good to see that you are awake.” Optimus said, leaning over the girl with a small smile.  
Kayden was a friend, one he intended to cherish in the small time they had.


	6. Shot in the Leg

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Short chapter as I begin to piece together the next segment of the story. I'll be delving into more canon for the next few chapters.
> 
> Also, I've added my Instagram to my profile. You can see illustrations of Kayden I've done there and on twitter!

Noise had returned to the Autobot base with Kayden’s recovery and no one wanted to admit that they had missed it. Kayden was no longer in danger but Ratchet had been strict about her resting since she didn't have much energy still. Which was why she was sitting next to Raf on the couch, blanket draped over her shoulders as the two played his racing game. Bumblebee stood behind them, letting out small chirps and whoops whenever the race got exciting. Jack was sitting in a chair with a textbook on his lap, trying to understand what calculus had to do with his life. Miko suddenly appeared at the top of the stairs with a wide grin that Jack knew meant something was up.  
It's party time!" The girl cheered, collecting the bags that Bulkhead was handing to her.  
"A party for what exactly?" Jack asked, tapping his pencil against the corner of his mouth.  
"For Kayden’s recovery of course!" Miko said, placing the bags down and beginning to pull things out.  
Raf paused the game and curiously looked at what Miko had brought. Mixing bowls, flour, milk, eggs, an electric skillet and an assortment of fruit, chocolate chips and whipped cream. He looked at Kayden who was eyeing them curiously.  
"It's a hotcake party." Miko explained.  
"Pancakes? Does Kayden even like them?" Jack questioned. He put his book down and looked up at Kayden. Her eyes were shining and focused on the assortment before her. It seems that she did in fact like pancakes, a lot.  
"Miko this is…" Kayden began before Miko put a hand up in front of her.  
"Don't say anything!" The girl said. "You went through a lot and taught us not to touch energon because, yeah that was bad."  
Kayden smiled behind her hand, her cheeks flushing pink as Miko handed the recipe to Raf and asked the boy to read it off for her. Jack picked up a bottle of cooking oil and questioned if Miko even knew how to cook which caused the girl to point a whisk at the boy and tell him not to question her.  
"Kayden, no helping, this is meant for you, so just relax." Miko said. "My hotcakes may look weird but they taste amazing!"  
"What do you mean by weird?" Jack questioned as Miko cracked an egg much neater than he could.  
"Flipping a hotcake is an art that I have not mastered." Miko said.  
Laughter began to stem from their little group as a cloud of flour poofed out of the bag. Raf read out the instructions as the two teens argued over whether the first batch should be blueberry or chocolate chip but Miko won when Kayden held up the chocolate chip bag with eager eyes. Half of the bag was added to the mix before Miko scooped a spoonful of the batter onto the skillet.  
Batter dribbled on the table as Raf considered using the berries to make faces and Jack criticized the flipping ability of Miko. Kayden snuck a finger into the batter bowl and licked her lips as Miko pushed her away, laughing.  
The first finished pancake landed safely on a paper plate and handed to Kayden. The older girl took a quick bite and felt the chocolate melt on her tongue, burning slightly. She waved in front of her mouth before giving Miko a thumbs up. The teen beamed and began her next batch as Kayden settled down and watched them.  
It was strange. The noise in front of her was real. It was right there… but it wasn't painful, wasn't distant. A silent living room, a slamming door, a repeated argument of stubbornness and pride. The noise she had become so used to was fading and being replaced. Replaced by the sound of Miko laughing, Jack arguing, Raf chuckling. The spacious house that felt too big and too empty was replaced by an old military base. Replaced with the mechanical sounds and weighted steps of metal titans.  
"Kayden, heads up!" Jack called. Kayden looked up and saw a pancake flying in the air, no doubt sent airborne by Miko. The trajectory would send it right over the railing and to the floor below. A miserable and pitiful end to a wonderful pancake.  
Kayden twisted her body and shot out the hand that was holding her now empty plate. With one hand on the railing, she leaned over and watched as the pancake plopped down onto her plate with thud that almost made her lose her grip on the plate. When she was able to readjust her grip, Kayden saw that the pancake was safe and she turned back to the children and gave them a peace sign.  
Laughter erupted as Kayden sat back down and began to eat her high flying pancake. She smiled as they each offered a high five to her. Behind them, the Autobots watched with fond smiles as they cleared through reports on Decepticon activity. Optimus watched Kayden, happy to see the color return to her face and that she was now sitting up and comfortable, not clinging to a sheet, distorted in pain. She lived, and that was the most important thing.  
The alarm that indicated the arrival of Agent Fowler caught the attention of the Autobot leader. He stepped closer to the platform as the elevator opened and the government agent came unto view. He was about to speak to Optimus when he saw the mess of a pancake party that the kids were having and he walked over to them.  
"You seem to be having a fun time." He noted and looked up to Kayden. "You had everyone worried when you up and vanished."  
"Kayden is aware and we have been over it with her." Optimus said, unknowingly saving Kayden from another lecture.  
Fowler nodded and looked down at the pile of pancakes. Raf offered him a plate, one he took happily. "So what's with the pancakes?" He asked as he stuffed his face.  
"A party to celebrate Kayden getting over her energon poisoning." Jack told him.  
Fowler choked and nearly spat out the pancakes. He let out a few stressed coughs as Miko glared at him for being disgusting. He looked between Kayden and Optimus and then to Ratchet.  
"How in the world did she come in contact with energon?" Fowler asked. "I thought you bots understood what it does to us?"  
"We do, Agent Fowler." Ratchet said. "But this time was bad luck and we had failed to let them know about the dangers ahead of time."  
"Kayden was attempting to aid me by knocking a shard of energon away from Starscream." Optimus explained.  
"Okay then can you explain to me how, no offense Kayden, a young woman with no physical training managed to survive a poisoning that my men couldn't?" Fowler asked.  
"Agent Fowler that circumstance was completely different." Ratchet stated. "Your men were exposed to a large amount of energon and had touched it for a length of time before we learned that it was toxic to you humans. Kayden merely kicked a small shard away from her."  
"Yeah and she still suffered due to it. The girl was down for four days." Bulkhead added.  
Fowler frowned like he didn't quite want to accept what the bots were explaining but he also knew that what they said made sense. If Kayden's exposure has been much less, than of course she bad a higher chance of surviving.  
"Okay, then explain why I always end up doped like a patriot on the fourth of July instead of downed like Kaydon was." He demanded, hands on the railing.  
"People will react to toxins differently, whether they are human or Cybertronian." Ratchet explained. "For you, processed energon shocked into your system creates an affect similar to an anesthetic where you aren't quite aware of yourself. In Kayden's case, her body tried to burn away the foreign matter by increasing her inner core temperatures. Which was quite affective I might add."  
Fowler looked a little off put by the information he received and looked over at Kayden who had managed to make the Autobot symbol out of chocolate chips on her pancake. Miko saw the challenge and tried doing the same with whipped cream.  
"Okay, enough about that." Fowler said, shaking his head and placing his empty plate on the table. "I'm glad to know that Kayden is better but we got a Mech problem."  
Optimus turned his full attention to Fowler. The other Autobots also stepped closer to hear what their friendly neighborhood human villain was intending to do.  
"We've got information that Mech has stolen some very specialized computer information." Fowler said. "I know it means nothing to you all but it's one of the most advanced AI tech we've got."  
"What can an AI of human caliber possibly do?" Ratxhet asked, rolling his eyes.  
"I'm not talking about playing chess against a master AI,I'm talking about an AI that can allow drones to control themselves and drop bombs or supplies on a specific location all while following a simple GPS." Fowler stated.  
"With an AI like that, it gives the very core of being able to create autonomous robots." Raf explained. "No where near as capable as you guys but capable enough to cause some real problems for us."  
"If Mech manages to decode the AI program, they'll be able to control just about any robotic machine without having to be anywhere near it." Fowler stated.  
"So they never get caught for any terrorist attack they do." Jack said.  
"Can't get caught if you aren't caught in the act." Miko added.  
"Could they develop the AI more?" Kayden asked, looking at Raf.  
"It would be difficult but not impossible." Raf said. "The coding in an AI is very delicate and it's really easy to mess up the interfacing by typing in a different style than the original. Breaking down and understanding how the code is written is their only option and if they do something wrong, they risk damaging the data."  
"Which means they will most likely make multiple copies of the data." Optimus added.  
"They'll need some strong memory chips for that." Raf stated as he brought up a small factory onto the amin computer screen. "Chips that can handle that much data are strictly regulated by the government and the only factory that handles them is this one."  
"So unless Mech had another way of getting those memory chips, we've got their next target." Jack added.  
"Prime I'm going to need your team's help in dealing with this." Agent Fowler stated. "Our country cannot afford having that factory destroyed and we both know that Mech is not afraid to make a show."  
"Understood." Optimus said. "We will coordinate with you men again so that we can protect the factory."  
"Thanks Prime, I'll let you all know as soon as I have intel on what the plan is." Fowler stated as he made his way to the elevator.  
"So does that mean it's a stakeout?” Miko asked, completely pumped and throwing bits of whipped cream everywhere.  
“We will be on stakeout, you four will remain here with Ratchet.” Optimus said, looking between the four of them. He had to force himself not to smile at the mess they had made of their little party. The children of Earth seemed to enjoy doing activities that always left a mess but the end results tended to surprise him.  
“Aww!” Miko said, sinking down into her seat. Jack smirked before standing up.  
“Well for now we have a mess to clean.” He said, picking up the plates. Miko let out another groan which earned her a smack on the head with a paper towel roll from Jack. Kayden neatly collected her plate and napkin but Jack took it from her. “The one who spent the last four days dying stays seated.”  
“You’re such the mom friend, you know that?” Miko said, setting up a trash bag and throwing the garbage away like she was shooting hoops.  
“I am not!” Jack argues. Tossing a cup and missing.  
“Miss!” Miko laughed.  
“Thank you, Captain Obvious.” Jack grunted, as he went after the cup. Raf tossed a couple of napkins and beamed when he managed to land them into the open bag.  
The mess was cleaned surprisingly quick, especially with Miko and Raf stealing any of the spilled fruit and chocolate chips. Kayden watched with a bemused expression as the proof of their party quickly disappeared and all that remained were half empty cups, napkins and a bottle of maple syrup. Raf took his seat beside Kayden again and handed her the video game controller so that they could finish their game.  
Sometime later on, Fowler sent a message to the Autobot computer with their plans for the factory. Miko was racing Jack and Kayden had caught a glimpse of the factory blueprints out of the corner of her eye. It was small, one floor with a catwalk and was nearly a perfect square. A fence was wrapped around it, capable of keeping humans out but not military force. And from what Miko had explained to her, Mech had military force.  
A picture of Fowler popped up on the screen as he started to explain exactly what they intended to do. All of Team Prime was gathered around the computer in order to understand the strategy. Mech had air support which they had no choice but to leave to Fowler since none of them could fly. Optimus pointed out a couple of flaws in the plan but once it was finalized, it was time to head to the factory.  
"I'll leave the children in your hands." Optimus told Ratchet as the ground bridge opened.  
"Kick butt!" Miko told Bullhead who gave her a thumbs up.  
"Do not follow them." Jack said, placing a hand on her shoulder to prevent the girl from running off.  
"Definitely the mom friend." Miko muttered, crossing her arms over her chest. She had completely intended on joining the Autobots on their stake out.  
Jack let out a disgruntled sigh as the ground bridge closed and he released his grip on Miko who decided that watching TV was much better than arguing. She took control of the remote and turned to Monster Jam, her mood immediately rising as she watched the large trucks slam into each other. Kayden heard Ratchet mutter something about a blood sport before she settled against the couch.

Kayden’s eyes opened slowly at the sound of the ground bridge opening and the heavy foot steps of titans echoed. A slight drag could be heard be heard as Optimus limped in, being supported by Bulkhead. Kayden lifted her head up, noting the blanket that had been draped over her and that the kids were at the railing, watching the bots with concern. She sat up and leaned up to the railing where she saw that shrapnel had been inbedded into Optimus’s leg.  
Kayden felt her stomach drop as she watched him get placed onto the medical table with care. The others all had dents and scratches, Arcee had a scorchedbarm that she was cradling but Optimus was the worst. A large jagged sheet of metal with a purple tinge was stuck in his leg along with several other small pieces and at least two metal pipes from what Kayden could see.  
Her hands gripped the railing, knuckles white as she watched Ratchet examine the injured limb and shake his head. "This wasn't caused by just Mech." He noted, carefully pulling out the smaller pieces.  
"Decepticons showed up out of nowhere." Bulkhead said. "Silas used a downed Vehicon as a shrapnel bomb."  
"Disgusting. Even Decepticons don't use such tactics." Ratchet spat. He injected a sedative into Optimus to numb the pain in his leg. The larger mech's shoulders relaxed.  
"Arcee, are you okay?" Jack asked his guardian, eyeing the damage done to her arm.  
Ratchet took a quick look at her arm pointing to a shelf. "Bumblebee get the cooling patch out and place it on Arcee. Arcee you sit down and tell me if the burning gets worse." He ordered before returning back to Optimus.  
"I can manage Ratchet, you can aid Arcee-" Optimus began.  
"Yapyapyap!" Ratchet waved a finger in front of Optimus. "You have half a wing stuck in your pedo and who knows what else and that makes you my priority. Now don't move."  
When Ratchet moved, Kayden noticed that Optimus also had shrapnel in his chest. Her breath hitched and she bit the inside of her cheek, fighting back the concern that was choking her. Miko noticed Kayden's stiffness and placed her hand on the older girl's arm. Kayden looked down at her, but went back to watching Optimus as a heavy silence fell.  
It took Ratchet an hour to remove the shrapnel from Optimus and to get the large mech to lay down on the medical bed and not get up. He checked on Arcee, happy to see that the cooling patch had done its job. Night had come and as the kids gathered up to leave, Kayden stood at the platform, watching them but eyes moving to Optimus every now and then. Bulkhead noticed her lagging and opened his hand to her.  
"Want a ride?" He asked. Kayden shook her head and looked over at Optimus who was still lying down. Bulkhead followed her line of sight and smiled up at her. "Keep an eye on him for us then!"  
Kayden gave the large bot a nod and watched him transform and leave with Miko. When the door to the outside closed, Kayden walked closer to where Optimus was. She placed her hands on the railing and looked down, noting that his eyes were focusing on the screen, watching his own vitals or trying to read whatever Ratchet was doing. Said bot turned around to run a scanner over Optimus again, rubbing his hand on his chin and muttering in the rhythmic whirls and chirps that made up the spoken Cybertronian language. A part of Kayden felt that she was slowly understanding what some of the sounds meant.  
Ratchet looked down at Kayden and back to Optimus. His face showed that he was contemplating something before shaking his head and turning towards the human girl.  
"I need to check on my medical tools, can you make sure Optimis stays lying down and that he doesn't try to work on anything?" Ratchet asked. Kayden stared up at the medic before nodding her head. Ratchet huffed in reply and began to walk to a small side room where he tried to keep his medical equipment away from Bulkhead and the others.  
Once he was out of sight, Kayden looked back at Optimus who was still watching the screen, or at least she thought he was. His head was turned in a way that she couldn't see his eyes clearly. Looking up to where Ratchet disappeared and down at the medical bed and the platform, Kayden made an educated guess. Minus the railing and the thickness of the platform, the drop down was about eight feet, she could manage that.  
Kayden put her foot on the lower bar of the railing and lifted her other leg over and carefully lowered herself down until she was hanging by the floor of the platform. She took one look below her before dropping onto the platform with a light thud, dropping her blanket in the process. As she began to gather it up, Optimus's head turned towards her in surprise. She walked up to him, but stopped when she reached his shoulder.  
"Why are you on the berth?" Optimus asked, his voice showing no signs of him being in pain.  
"To make sure you stay." Kayden said, adjusting the blanket in her arms. "And that you don't work."  
Optimus let out a sigh and Kayden felt a small rush of air press against her legs. She looked down to find the source but couldn't.  
"Do you intend to stay all night?" Optimus asked. Kayden gave him a nod.  
Optimus watched her for several seconds before turning his attention to the ceiling. He had a feeling that she was going to be too stubborn to convince otherwise. Kayden sat down, crossing her legs as Optimus opened his subspace and pulled out a small book, one that Kayden had lent him. He dropped it on her lap and waited for her to pick it up.  
"I have been reading this one when I can." He said. He had wanted to continue to do so but it was difficult to read the book when he wasn't allowed to sit up. Kayden traced her fingers over the cover and at the painted flowers.  
'A Midsummer Night's Dream'  
"Will you read it to me?" Optimus asked.  
Kayden looked up at him, surprised but a faint smile graced his features and she found herself nodding in reply. She adjusted her seat, moving just a little bit closer to his head as she opened the book and turned to the page indicated by the maroon bookmark. Tracing her fingers over the words, Kayden began to read.

Ratchet left his storage room feeling satisfied at being able to clean his tools. He hadn't heard Optimus move at all and was honestly surprised. He had asked Kayden to watch him, but he never expected the human girl to keep Optimus from getting up or working.  
Turning towards the medical berth, Ratchet was pleasantly surprised to find Optimus still lying down, optics shut and a gentle hum emitting from him. He stepped closer and noticed Kayden, back against Optimus's helm, fast asleep with a book on her lap. The medic let out a sigh at the two before quietly going to his computer. In the back of his processor he was logging away the information he had learned. Kayden was probably the one person that could make Optimus recharge.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have nothing to say other than that I really wanted to write about Kayden falling asleep against Optimus


	7. Pulse

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> These chapters have been much easier to write than I even thought and I’m having a lot of fun <3  
> I also love reading the comments, thank you!

A week had passed since the incident at the factory. Optimus and Kayden had both healed from their individual ordeals and life returned to normal at the Autobot base. Normal meaning Miko and Bulkhead being caved in at an old energon mine and Arcee's old nightmare Arachnid making her entrance on Earth and deciding to make Jack her new trophy. Luckily both teams go out safely and relatively unharmed though Jack seems less keen on spiders compared to before and Kayden noticed that Miko had become just a bit more cautious.   
The problem now though, wasn't with the four humans who had an uncanny boon of luck in getting themselves into trouble but also helping out unexpectedly. No today the trouble in four Autobots: Bumblebee, Bulkhead, Arcee and even Optimus Prime. All of which had driven straight through mud pits in a chase against Decepticons, getting their alt modes so filthy that they refused to transform in fear of where the mud might go if they did.   
Ratchet stared down at the four bots, the humans peeking out from behind his legs as he glared with his hands on his hips. The medic let out a disgruntled sigh and pointed back out the door.  
"You are not tracking all of that filth inside here." Ratchet demanded.   
"Come on Ratchet, we need to get clean." Bulkhead whined, Bumblebee agreeing with him.  
"Go find a lake or something to bathe in." The medic said.  
"In the middle of a desert?" Arcee asked, her normal level of sass not being drained..  
"I heard the humans always find a source of water when they need it." Ratchet told her.  
"Those are mirages that we hallucinate because of the heat." Jack corrected him.  
Ratchet simply shrugged and walked back to the main room.   
The four bots sighed and backed up before turning around and leaving the way they came. The kids stepped back to prevent themselves from getting hit by sliding mud. The hall was filled with muddy tracks and splashes and honestly, Kayden could see why Ratchet didn't want them inside. The four kids looked at each othrr before Miko grinned, Jack and Raf followed suit and Kayden nodded. They had an idea.

Outside the base, the four bots had taken shelter in the shaded area around the base, debating on what they were supposed to do. The largest body of water was a local pool and that was completely out. They'd be caught in no time and cleaning that up would be an expensive mess for the humans.   
"We could borrow a hose." Bulkhead thought.  
"Doesn't the town have a car wash?" Arcee asked.  
"Motorcycles can't go through car washes, Arcee." Jack said, lugging a couple of buckets.  
Miko, Kayden and Raf followed behind him, holding their own buckets. They had all changed into t-shirts and shorts and wore flip-flops. The bots turned to them as Jack set his buckets down next to Arcee.  
"Why not?" Arcee asked.  
"You have to drive through it so anyone riding you would be exposed to the machines." Jack said. "Which is too dangerous."  
"Bumblebee is the only one who can technically go through one." Raf explained.  
"Bulk and Optimus are too big to fit." Miko added.  
"Then what do we do?" Arcee asked with a sigh.  
The four humans lifted up their buckets. "We'll wash you!" Miko announced.  
The bots seemed a bit taken a back at first and the humans looked at them confused. "Is there a problem with us doing so?" Raf asked.  
"Is it normal?" Arcee asked.  
"Car washes cost money, most people hand wash their vehicles." Jack said.  
"If you do not mind, we will request your services." Optimus said. Miko let out a cheer and ran up to Bulkhead.  
"So how are we getting water again?" Jack asked.  
"Kayden said she found a spout." Raf said. They looked over at the older girl who was trotting over to the rock wall that surrounded their base. Hidden from view was a slightly rusted spout. It held tight as Kayden tried to turn it but when it finally turned, clear water poured out.  
"Alright!" Miko cheered.  
They attached the hose as the bots lined up closer to the wall. After Kayden finished filling her buckets, she adjusted the nozzle and turned the water on Optimus. The mech had to stop himself from lurching back in surprise. Mud slid off of him and once he was thoroughly soaked, Kayden turned off the water and offered it to Miko who did the same with Bulkhead.  
Kayden stuck her hand in the now sudsy bucket, flinching at the cold water before grabbing a large yellow sponge that they had found in a storage room of the base. She wrung out the water and began to scrub at the mud caked to Optimus’s fender. Behind her, Bumblebee made happy chirping noises at being soaked by the hose and Raf laughed in response.  
"Thank you for assisting with this." Optimus said, his tone hushed as he spoke to Kayden alone. Kayden looked up at him and shook her head.  
"This is fun." Kayden said. Behind her, chatter and laughs began to fill the small area as water and soap splashed.  
Optimus hummed and watched the other kids as well. Jack seemed to be having the easiest time since Arcee had such a small frame. Raf was struggling a bit but seemed to be enjoying himself while Miko looked to be struggling the most, using a bucket as a stool but still not managing to reach Bulkhead's roof. Kayden used his tire as a step and managed to hoist herself up high enough to clean his hood, not minding that her clothes were being soaked through.   
After thirty minutes, Jack deemed himself done after rinsing off Arcee who definitely seemed happier without the mud. "You should be able to dry off if you stay in the sun." He said. His partner nodded and moved herself out into the bright Nevada rays. Miko tossed a sponge at Jack, hitting him in the face. "What was that for, Miko?"  
"You had the smallest bot to clean so you have to help the rest of us out!" The girl declared, standing in front of Bulkhead's door. "Now give me a boost!"  
Jack grumbled but walked over to the girl and helped her climb onto Bulkhead's roof. Miko gave him a thumbs up and shooed him off to help Kayden and Raf. Jack decided to turn to see if Kayden needed any help since she had the largest bot to clean but found her kneeling on Optimus’s hood as she cleaned his windshield.  
"Need any help?" Jack offered.  
Kayden shook her head and pointed to Raf who discovered that he could only reach up to a certain height of Bumblebee's frame and definitely needed help. Jack gave her a joking salute and went over to help the youngest. 

An hour later and Kayden had finally finished scrubbing all of the mud off of Optimus. The others had already finished, sitting out in the sun to dry as the kids played with water guns that Miko had brought with her. They were chasing each other around, laughing and screaming when they got pelted by the cold stream of water.   
Kayden slid off of Optimus, landing on her bare feet as she had discarded her flip-flops long before. Kayden was about to slip the sandals on, finding the ground to be too hot but her body stopped when she felt a pulse move through her feet. It was big and washed over like a wave. After several seconds, another came. She stared at the ground in absolute confusion before quickly putting her sandals on. The pulsing stopped.  
"Is something wrong?" Optimus asked. Kayden looked up at him and shook her head. It was probably the heat.  
Walking over to the hose, Kayden barely missed being hit by Miko's water attack. The girl waved at her as she turned back to Optimus and rinsed him off. Once done, the mech thanked her and backed up into the sun where the others were enjoying a sun bath.  
Kayden was about to turn off the hose when she was battered in the face by water. It caught her off guard as she rubbed the water from her face.  
"Sorry!" Jack shouted, looking at her with concern.  
Kayden stared up at him, face blank, before holding up the hose nozzle and spraying the boy with a shot of water. Jack shouted and tried to get away but Kayden started chasing him with the hose. Miko and Raf joined in as the four way water fight was on. The bots watched from a safe distance, not getting what was fun about being shot with water but enjoying the show all the same. Every now and then they would cheer on their respective charge when they got a good shot in.  
Kayden smiled as she managed to get Miko in the back but stopped when she felt a tug at the hose. Because her hands were soaked, the nozzle slipped right out of her grip and flew back as the limit of the hose's reach was met. All four humans stopped and stared at the fallen hose. Miko was the first to break the silence with a loud laugh that infected all of them. Kayden covered her mouth behind her hand as a laugh bubbled up inside of her that she couldn't contain.  
"You laughed!" Miko shouted, pointing at Kayden. "We finally got you to laugh!"  
Kayden looked at her confused as Jack tried to talk as he held his sides. "We were betting on who could get you to laugh." He said with a grin. "Looks like we all won."  
Miko let out another laugh and handed Kayden a water gun with a toothy grin. "Round three?" She offered.   
Kayden took the gun, holding it up and nodding. Round three was on.  
This time, the game didn't just take place where the bots were drying off. Around the giant rock they raced, hitting each other with streams of water as they laughed and screamed. Even if they fell and scraped their knees, they'd wipe it away and keep running. The refill station was the only safe zone but that didn't stop attacks from occurring the moment the water guns were full.  
The four played until their stamina reached its limit and they collapsed in the shade of the rock. They laid there, chests rising as they gasped for air and let out weak laughs. The bots hovered over them, now in their bipedal forms and much cleaner compared to before.  
"Are you guys okay?" Arcee asked. They hadn't even tried to move once they all collapsed.  
"Can't move… too tired." Miko let out.   
"Do we need to carry you guys inside? Bulkhead asked. He had never seen them this exhausted before and was a little bit concerned despite the smiles etched across their faces.  
"That would be nice." Raf laughed and the others agreed.

When the four Autobots walked inside, Ratchet was surprised to see them clean and shocked to see them carrying the four humans who were soaked and limp. They gently placed them on the couches and chairs before turning to their medic who was eyeing them.  
"What happened to them?" Ratchet asked suspiciously.  
"They played until they ran out of energy." Optimus stated. He looked down at them fondly, noting that most of them had fallen asleep.   
"They should do that more often." The old medic said. They were quiet this way.  
The bots laughed and went about the work that had been delayed due to their muddy situation earlier.  
It was several hours later when Jack woke with a start. He was inside the base, curled up on a chair. Across from him, Kayden was fast asleep on the couch and Miko was packing up her bag. Raf was missing.  
"Morning sleepy head." Miko joked. "Better get your stuff, it’s past ten."  
"What?" Jack shot up and looked down at Kayden who hadn't budged. "What happened?"  
"You four played yourselves to exhaustion and fell into recharge for hours." Arcee stated. "We better hurry, your mom is probably worried."  
Jack followed Miko down the stairs and the two left with their respective bots. Jack noted that Bumblebee wasn't there, which meant Raf had left already. At least the kid wouldn't get in trouble with his mom. He had a feeling that he wouldn't be so lucky.

***

Miko's laughter erupted through the base as Arcee let out a sigh.  
"Jack got grounded and you got stuck in the garage!" The girl laughed, holding her sides as she laid on the couch, kicking her feet. "That's amazing!"  
"Not amazing Miko." Arcee said. "If I’m not in the garage when June returns, Jack will be in trouble."  
"That’s awkward." Bulkhead piped in and the femme sighed.  
"We will do our best to make sure you are back in time so that Jack isn't put into any more troubles with his parental guardian." Optimus stated.   
"Sorry about this, Optimus." Arcee said, looking up at her leader with guilt.  
"How come Miko didn't get in trouble for returning so late?" Ratchet asked. He would have enjoyed not seeing the loud girl for a couple of days.  
"Because my host parents are too scared of me to punish me." Miko said.  
Kayden looked at Miko with a bit of concern on her face. "Should I talk to them?" She asked. Miko looked at her with confusion.  
"Why?" Miko asked.   
A beeping noise erupted from the computer as an alert of Decepticon activity came through. The fun was cut short as the Autobots rolled out.

Arcee's return to base was quick and abrupt as she jumped back through the ground bridge that led to Jack's garage. Miko joked as she left, wondering what Jack's mom would think if the motorcycle wasn't in the garage while Jack was there.   
It was soon time for the other two to go home and Kayden waved them off. She stood up and stretched. Her body felt stiff from sleeping on the couch for two days. Her joints popped as she released some of the stress that had begun to set in. Optimus noticed her tired appearance and stepped closer to the platform.   
"Should I bring you home tonight?" He asked. Kayden looked up at him and nodded her head. Her bed sounded nice, and she needed to bring back work that needed to be done. She was done with the research for her thesis which meant she just needed to write it out.  
Kayden walked down the stairs and she had nearly reached the bottom when a small earthquake shook the base. Kayden instantly lost her balance and slid down the stairs. Optimus, thankfully, had been watching Kayden and managed to secure the girl into his large servos as the shaking came to a stop. She looked up at Optimus who was focusing on her.  
"Are you alright?" He asked.  
Kayden nodded. "Thanks." She said.  
Optimus kept her in his hands as he walked over to Ratchet who had pulled up a news report. It showed how several small earthquakes had struck around the world at the same time.   
"Is this normal?" Ratchet asked.  
"Nope." Was all Kayden replied as she saw pictures of damage done in other places. Downed trees, split concrete and collapsing power lines and a part of her was grateful that Jasper didn't have skyscrapers. Just mountainous rock forms.  
And giant sentinel autonomous organisms.  
"How do these quakes occur?" Optimus asked, looking down at Kayden.  
"When plates move." Kayden answered. Science wasn't her strong point, but she knew that much at least.  
"So all of these plates moving at once can mean some sort of activity under the planet's core." Ratchet hypothesized. "Could the Decepticons be behind this?"  
"While Decepticon engineering is impressive,I do not believe they would have a means of doing something of this scale." Optimus stated.   
"It could just be our plant being weird." Kayden suggested.  
"Your planet would do things like this at random?" Ratchet asked in disbelief. Kayden just gave him a shrug. "I'm starting to understand how humans are so tenacious."  
"We should leave before another quake happens." Optimus stated. He turned around and moved to place Kayden back on the ground.  
The moment Kayden's feet touched the floor of the base, she immediately withdrew back into Optimus’s hand, reeling back. The pulse she had felt the day before was resonating even more forceful.  
"Kayden? Is something the matter?" Optimus asked, questioning the girl's reluctance to leave his hand.  
"It's pulsing." Kayden said, staring at the ground.  
"What is?" Optimus questioned.  
"The ground." Kayden said, gingerly placing a foot down. The moment part of her foot was flat to the ground, the wave like pulse surged through her and she immediately withdrew her foot again.  
"I do not feel anything." Optimus thought.  
"I'm not detecting anything either." Ratchet said, giving a scan of the base.  
Kayden refused to step off of Optimus’s hand, her eyes focused on the ground. The pulsing felt wrong and sent a sickly sweet sensation that made her want to gag. It hadn't been that bad the day before but this time the pulsing was thick and heavy and utterly repulsive.   
Optimus watched Kayden's reluctance with steady eyes. Kayden wasn't the type to make up things, nor exaggerate for attention. If she was feeling pulses through the ground, then maybe something was truly there. Something humans could sense but they couldn't. The children would return tomorrow, he could ask them then.  
Optimus moved Kayden over to the stairs and she was much more willing to step off of his hand there. She couldn't feel the pulsing through the stairs. She didn't understand why, but she wasn't complaining. Optimus transformed and moved up to the stairs so that Kayden could climb in without touching the ground. She was grateful for this and got in quickly.  
As Optimus drove out of the base and towards Jasper, Kayden watched her feet. Her face showed confusion and discomfort.  
"How did the pulsing feel?" Optimus asked   
"Wrong." Kayden said. "Steady, like a pulse but thick and heavy…"  
"Do you have any idea what could cause such a sensation?" Optimus pondered but Kayden just shook her head. "Maybe the quaking caused it."  
"I felt it yesterday." Kayden told him.  
"When you spaced out?" Optimus asked , earning another nod.   
"It disappeared when I put on my shoes." Kayden replied.   
Optimus hummed. Direct contact with the ground triggered it once, but this time, Kayden had shoes on and still felt it. Was it getting stronger or was it made stronger by the quake? There were a lot of questions that needed answering.

By the next day, the pulsing had stopped but Kayden did not go to the base. She sat in her living room, notebooks and papers neatly piled around her along with books and scrolls that looked like they belonged behind a glass case of a museum, not on her floor. Her phone was open beside her with Miko onspeaker. She was upset that Kayden wasn't there.  
"We were gonna have a racing competition!" The teen girl whined. Kayden typed away at her computer, glancing at the information listed beside her occasionally as she did.  
"Sorry but I need to work on my thesis." Kayden said. She heard more whining but chuckled and went back to her work. She wanted to play with the kids, she had a lot of fun with them, but she was in the final stages of her thesis and the sooner she finished, the sooner she had freedom to spend with them.   
"You promised to be here for this." Miko said.  
"I'll make it up to you." Kayden offered.  
"You'll join the band?" Miko questioned.  
Kayden hesitated. Miko had been trying to get her into the band since day one but Kayden had always refused since she had no confidence in music. She had done choir in middle school and high school at her father's demand but she never sung solo before.   
"I'll consider it." Kayden said with a sigh. Miko cheered, feeling that she had won something.  
"Call me later!" Miko demanded before hanging up.  
Kayden plopped backwards against her couch and stared at her ceiling. She needed to get to writing. Once the essay was written, she had to handle the oral exam. That was the one thing she was scared of. Kayden hated speaking in front of crowds, in front of people in general. She felt tongue tied and her stomach sank. It was why she rarely talked, it was easier not to. Though she had felt that she'd been more talkative lately.   
Kayden closed her eyes and let out a deep sigh. Maybe she could ask Optimus to help with her oral speech, he was good at talking. He might be able to give her some advice.   
Kayden's breathing steadied, her body growing numb as she felt a sensation of falling fill her. A flash of orange spiraled past her before turning into a slate stone that pulsed a bright purple. A pounding thump echoed through her head, beating against her brain in rhythm to the flashing purple. A beat… a heart beat.  
Kayden held her head and bit back a scream as a familiar gagging sensation choked her. She couldn’t breath, her head was going to burst.  
"I am here."  
Kayden shot up, eyes opened wide in panic as she sucked in a gulp of air and let out a ragged breath. Sweat dripped down her neck, causing her hair to cling to her skin. She was panting, biting back tears that stung her eyes. Her vision began to focus as she finally saw her computer, now in sleep mode and that the sun had moved.  
She had been asleep for several hours and had a nightmare. She hadn’t had one in so long, it caught her off guard. She was stressed. That's all she could think about.   
Her thesis.  
The Autobots.  
The weird pulsing.  
Her relationship with Optimus having become much more comfortable than she thought.  
Kayden ran her hand through her hair as she thought on the last one. Optimus Prime. A forty foot tall metal titan that could be the equivalent of a war god. An intelligent and gentle leader who would argue the points of English literature with her and teach her the pronunciations of places on Cybertron.  
Her small world was expanded so much since she had met him and a part of her felt that it was too much all at once. So much responsibility, so much power and knowledge was being given to her and it took all of her strength to not get crushed. The true meaning of the war, the secrets of events that happened in the past. The dark and lighter sides of the planet that its own citizens never noticed. The corruption of those that were viewed as heroes. He had told her everything. He entrusted her with this information.   
Was it because he trusted her?  
Was it because he considered her a friend?  
Was it because he saw her as an equal scholar?  
Or was it simply because she had shared the dirty secrets of human society? A fair trade?  
Kayden shook the thoughts from her head. The heaviness of the nightmare had long since faded. This wasn't the time to question the meaning behind the Prime's actions. Right now she had a thesis to write, to finish. That was her priority. And with that, she sat down and began to write.

***

It was two days later tha Kayden was lying down on the base’s couch, arm over her eyes as she started to fall asleep. She'd spent the last two days writing up her draft for the thesis and had begun editing it and she was exhausted. She hadn’t slept since the time she had had the weird nightmare and the pulsing had increased to the point that she could feel it even through the metal platform. The couch seemed to be the only place it hadn’t yet protruded through.   
Miko had informed her that Jack's mom had learned about the Autobots and as if on cue, the women showed up, using her own car to enter the base. All but Ratchet were out on a mission, Raf was with Bumblebee who was on patrol and Miko was sitting in a chair across from Kayden.   
"Mom, what are you doing here?" Jack asked, running down to greet the woman.  
"I thought you'd all like some sandwiches." June Darby said, glancing back at her car.  
"Remember when this was a cool person's club?" Miko asked, obviously not liking the appearance of an adult aside from Kayden. Did the teen even consider her an adult? Probably not since she helped out with her pranks more than once.  
Kayden never moved her arm, even when she heard the mother and son come up to the top of the platform. She heard a falter of steps that were distinctively the sound of heels on metal.  
"Who is that, Jack?" June asked. Kayden was certain she was pointing at her but at this point she was too tired to care.   
Kayden was sprawled out on the couch, wearing shorts that were probably too short with her boots off. Her skin was tanned now thanks to the Nevada sun but small cuts littered her legs and arms from their water gun fight earlier in the week. Miko and Jack had similar scars under their clothes, she was certain of that.  
"That's Kayden, she's another member of the Team." Jack said, not bothering to keep quiet.   
"She wasn't here the other day." June noted and Kayden heard Miko scoff and mutter something about June being observant.  
"She’s been working on her thesis." Jack said, walking over to Kayden and smacking her arm with a pillow. "And disregarding her sleep schedule in the process."  
Kayden grunted and moved her arm just enough to give Jack a look before covering them again. Jack placed his hands on his hips.  
"Did you have to go two days without sleep?" Jack asked.  
Kayden uncovered her face and sat up, stretching her arms out as she let out a big yawn. "I could have gone more, but Optimus doesn't like it when I disappear for days." Kayden gave Jack a mock smile and the teen hit her in the face with the pillow again.   
"Jack you shouldn't hit her." June said, eyeing Kayden who was forcing her finger through a knot on her hair.  
"He can't help it." Miko said with a shrug. "It's his job as the mom friend."  
This time Jack threw the pillow at Miko but the girl caught it and slugged it right back, nailing the teen in the head. June was about to stop the arguing that ensued between the two but was drawn to Kayden as the girl tugged on her boots. She let out a dissatisfied grunt when her bare toes hit the metal and she was quick to get her feet back onto the coffee table.  
"Are you alright?" June asked, stepping closer to the other girl. Kayden gave her a simple nod, eyes looking past the nurse before she decided to watch Miko and Jack have a pillow fight.  
"Are you still feeling those pulses?" Ratchet asked, looking over at Kayden who nodded again.  
"What pulses?" Miko asked, stopping the fighting with ease.  
"Ever since you all cleaned up the others, Kayden has been feeling pulses from the ground." Ratchet explained. "It's been steadily getting worse and now she can feel it even on the platform."  
"I’m not feeling anything." Jack said, watching Kayden who looked very tired.  
"Same here." Miko said. The teen yanked off her boots and stood on the platform for several seconds in silence. "Nothing."  
"How bad is it?" June asked, instinctively reaching out to touch Kayden's head. Kayden backed away, shrinking away from the nurse who flinched at this and withdrew her hand. "This could be a head injury."  
"From what?" Jack asked. "Kayden's gone out on a mission like three times and was perfectly fine after each one"  
"I don't think the Decepticons even know Kayden is part of this team." Ratchet stated. "Starscream is the only one who saw her and he seems to have defected."  
"There could be other underlying conditions, Kayden you need to get checked out." June said.   
Kayden stared at her before standing up and ignoring the pulsing that shot through her feet and straight through her body. She walked over to Ratchet who had opened the news on his screen. The weather had been terrible that morning and he wanted to make sure that Bumblebee and Rafael returned before the storm hit. Desert storms were awful, something he had learned not too long after coming to Earth. But it wasn’t just Jasper being hit with the storm, all over the world, signs of bad weather were showing, as if the entire world was encased in dense storm clouds.  
Kayden sat on the railing, legs swaying as she watched the screen with mild interest. June looked over at Jack who had returned the pillow back to the couch.  
“Did she just avoid me?” June questioned, gesturing towards Kayden.  
“You did come on a little strong.” Jack admitted, scratching the back of his head. “Also, Kayden’s kinda awkward around people she just met.”  
June let out a sigh and considered apologizing to the girl when Optimus’s voice came over the com-link requesting an emergency ground bridge. Just seconds after it opened, Arcee and Bumblebee raced through with a limp Raf in their arms. Kayden and the others rushed to the edge of the platform to look at the youngest member.   
Ratchet was holding him in an instant as Optimus and Bulkhead came through the ground bridge. Ratchet was muttering something as he placed the small boy on a medical bed that Agent Fowler had given them after Kayden’s energon poisoning. None of them knew that they would have to use it so soon.   
“What happened?” Ratchet asked, not even daring to look away from the scanner. Raf’s vitals were shutting down and dark energon raced through him.  
“Megatron struck Bumblebee when Rafael was inside of him.” Optimus said. “The dark energon strike shocked him as well.”  
“He needs to be stabilized and then sent to the hospital!” June said. She had grabbed bags of fluid from her car and were administering them to the boy.  
“What can your doctors do?” Ratchet questioned her. “Do they know a thing about dark energon and its effects on the human body?”  
“Do you know?” June challenged.”  
“I do!” Ratchet said, jutting a finger at Kayden who was standing to the side to give the doctors room. “I watched over Kayden when she had it and by Primus I will make sure Rafael can survive it too!”  
June bit her lip and glanced back at Kayden before turning to the boy whose face had become pale. He was unconscious, eyes sunken and skin sweating. Every now and then a groan would escape his lips.  
“What do we need to do?” June finally asked.   
Ratchet ex-vented and looked over Raf’s vitals again. He had said he knew what he was doing, but he also had admitted that poisons work differently on different people. Kayden’s body had burned away the toxin by increasing her core temperature. But Raf’s body temperature was decreasing, giving no chance of fighting off the dark energon in the same way. The child was simply too young and too weak, to fight a poison that nearly killed an adult.


	8. Blood and Water

Raf was moved to an isolation room where he was strictly watched over by June inside and monitored by Ratchet at the computer. The two were deathly silent as they managed to stabilize him to the best of their abilities as Ratchet racked his processor over how to cure him and June bit back the want to take him to the hospital. Bumblebee watched Raf in agony, clenching his servos. He blamed himself, he was there and couldn’t do anything. But he was also angry and he let out a string of beeps and whoops that Kayden recognized as cursing. His anger caught the attention of everyone but Arcee was the one who inevitably tried to calm the young scout down.  
“We know Bee, we all want to get back at Megatron for this.” She said, glancing at Optimus.  
Their leader was watching Raf, his expression hard and unreadable. Optimus turned to Bumblebee and then looked between each of them before stopping at Kayden. The girl had chosen to watch them instead of Raf, leaving him to the other kids as she wanted to know what they intended to do. She had a serious expression, one that Optimus had never seen her wear before and he wondered if behind that calm exterior, was she seething as much as he was.  
“This time, Megatron has gone too far.” Optimus finally said, his helm moving from Raf and then between all of them once more. “It is time I settled things with him, once and for all.”  
With those words, Optimus turned away from them and towards the ground bridge. He knew where Megatron would be waiting and he intended to finish what had been started so long ago. His friend, his brother, the one he once fought back to back with was no longer inside of Megatron. His words and pleas continued to fall on silenced audio receptors and now he knew that there was no saving one who didn’t wish to be saved. He would end things with Megatron, even if it meant killing him.  
“Optimus, I know you and Megatron have a history…” Ratchet began, stepping towards his old friend. “Are you certain you can do this?”  
Optimus turned around, looked Ratchet in the optics and nodded. “I do not have a choice, old friend.” He said, his tone filled with remorse.  
Deep down, he truly wished that this day would never come. His optics trailed to Kayden and he wondered if she would think differently of him for no longer having mercy for his enemy. Would she turn him away like Megatronus had done so many eons ago?  
Optimus felt his spark squeeze at the thought of Kayden pushing him away. It was a realization at how much she had come to mean to him and he now feared she would leave.  
“Come back.” Kayden told him. Her voice was soft as ever but it shattered his thoughts and his doubts in just two words. He watched her for several clicks before nodding and once again turning to the ground bridge.  
When Optimus disappeared through the green swirl and the ground bridge closed, attention was brought back to Raf. Ratchet returned to processing diagnostics and the bots kept their optics on the screen for any messages from Optimus. This was his fight and they weren’t going to interrupt but they were going to be ready to jump in and help if the time came.  
Miko and Jack hovered near Raf’s bed, watching the boy exhale with raspy, shallow breaths. Kayden walked over to them but she found it difficult to focus on the boy when the pulsing had become even more powerful. It resonated through her feet and up her spine, causing her brain to vibrate through her skull. She suppressed the sickly sweet bile that made her want to gag. It was getting faster and she felt her vision become unfocused.  
A stroke of thunder and a small earthquake shook the base, catching everyone off guard. June and Jack braced the bed to prevent Raf from falling as the boy suddenly shot up and let out a weak cry of pain at the same time that Kayden collapsed to her knees, holding her head.  
The earthquake brought a surge of liquid fire that shot up her spine. A voice clawed at her brain, repeatedly echoing as her chest pounded to the rhythm of the pulsing. The feeling didn’t last long but it left her gasping for air and sputtering out coughs as she tried not to vomit. Miko was kneeling next to her, hands on her shoulders as she tried to see Kayden’s expression through her hair that covered her face.  
“I… I’m fine.” Kayden managed to say, lifting her head to try and look at Raf. Her vision was still unsteady and the voice was still clawing at her brain but she didn’t feel like gagging.  
Jack looked between Raf who had calmed down and Kayden who looked like she needed a hospital bed as well. He was starting to worry that she was having side effects of her own energon poisoning but she seemed able to manage it while Raf was slowly dying. He was going to ask the girl if she was okay but Ratchet caught their attention first.  
“That’s it! Why didn’t I think of this in the first place?” The medic shouted, typing away furiously at his computer. “If Raf can’t purge the dark energon out himself, we’ll do it for him!”  
“How?” June asked, feeling desperate.  
“By using energon.” Ratchet said, turning to them.  
“But isn’t that toxic to humans too?” Jack asked. From the corner of his eye, he noticed that Kayden was now sitting cross legged and watching Ratchet but her shoulders rose at a beat that showed she was still gasping.  
“In most cases, yes.” The medic stated. “But in this case it will neutralize the dark energon and clear his system of any toxin.”  
“Then let’s do it.” Jack stated. He looked at his mother who didn’t seem all too convinced but when Jack gave her a solid nod, she finally agreed.  
Ratchet carefully injected the energon into Raf, making sure to take it slow so that it didn’t rush through his system and cause his system to shut down. All of the humans stood back, crossing fingers and digging nails into palms as they waited in anticipation. Behind them stood their bots, watching in silence and still as statues.  
Everything was silent as the last of the energon was put into the boy. Once done, they all gathered around and watched, waited. A little move of the head, a little groan and Raf’s eyes slowly opened. His vision was unfocused but he recognized his friends and let out a small smile. Miko immediately dropped down to hug the boy, dragging Jack and Kayden down with her. The three of them hugged Raf, relieved to see that he was awake.  
Ratchet ex-vented loudly and the other bots followed suit. Bumblebee hesitantly leaned over his charge and gave him a weak warble. Raf smiled up at the mech. “I’m okay, Bee.” He said in a soft voice.  
Kayden sat up and gave the boy the space he needed as Jack tried to peel Miko off of him so he could breath. Raf may have been free of energon toxicity but he was weak and needed to rest. Even Kayden had taken several days to fully recover from her ordeal. June had begun to speak but was interrupted by Ratchet who had gone from being relieved about Raf’s condition to worrying about Optimus’s.  
“Optimus’s vitals are bad, he’s in serious trouble.” The medic said. He eyes the ground bridge before looking back at the team. “Bulkhead with me, we need to go and save him.”  
“Gotcha Doc.” Bulkhead said, stepping towards the ground bridge.  
Kayden trotted over to the platform, pushing all of the pain and uneasiness to the side. Optimus was hurt. That’s all she could think about.  
It didn’t take long for the two mechs to leave and return with a limping Optimus over their shoulders. He was taking stressed steps, energon leaked from several lacerations in his armor and he ex-vented slowly. Kayden gripped the railing as he was eased down onto the medical berth. Jack and Miko joined Kayden by the stairs as June stood at the bottom, her shoulders on Raf who was still unsteady on his feet.  
“What happened out there?” Ratchet said, immediately starting to patch up the worst of his injuries.  
“Things have become much more complicated than we initially thought.” Optimus stated. He spotted Raf, conscious and standing and let out an ex-vent in relief. The boy was alive.  
Agent Fowler suddenly emerged from the elevator, ready to state his mind when he noticed the heavy atmosphere of the base. “I’m taking it that you are already trying to handle the mass disasters that are about to occur over our entire planet or at least have a reason for why they are happening?” The man asked, eyes going through all of them before he spotted June. “Madam.”  
“Agent Fowler, it would appear that your planet is not what you originally believed it to be.” Optimus said. “It would seem that this planet flourished around a fallen Unicron eons ago.”  
All of the Autobots flinched at his words and Kayden found herself staring at her guardian. This time it wasn’t the pulsing that stopped her breathing but a hitch in her throat from disbelief.  
“You mean that Unicron is the very core of Earth?” Ratchet questioned.  
“Wait, we have a unicorn in the middle of our planet?” Miko interrupted. The bots all stared at her with utter confusion on their face plates. “You know, magical horse with a horn on its head, pooping rainbows wherever it goes?”  
“Unicron!” Ratchet emphasized. “He’s the creator of chaos!”  
“Care to elaborate on who this guy is?” Agent Fowler asked.  
“Eons ago there used to exist two gods, Primus, the creator and Unicron the destroyer. They battled for eons but it was never settled.” Ratchet stated. “Finally Primus creates the original thirteen Primes and he was able to severely injure Unicron who fled deep into the galaxies and disappeared. There were no records of whatever happened to Unicron.”  
“Until now at least.” Bulkhead said.  
“And now he’s got a planet built around him.” Arcee added.  
“A planet with sentient life.” Optimus stated, looking over at the humans.  
“Are you trying to say that us humans are creations of Unicron?” Jack asked.  
“It would be accurate to state that.” Optimus replied.  
“That fits.” Kayden added, earning a glare from Jack.  
“Uhm, I hate to interrupt…” Raf stated, his voice weak. “But I’m feeling the pulsing now.”  
Everyone turned to him and Ratchet narrowed his optics. He went back to his computer, typing away furiously as schematics and formulas raced across the screen before anyone had a chance to figure out what was going through his processor.  
“I get it now…” Ratchet stated, turning to look at Raf and then to Kayden. “I understand the reason behind the pulsing.”  
“Care to share it with the rest of us?” Arcee asked.  
“It’s the dark energon. It’s given them a link to Unicron.” Ratchet said.  
“I don’t like the sound of that.” Agent Fowler said.  
“Ratchet, can you elaborate?” Optimus asked.  
Ratchet nodded. “We use energon to detect other energon sources which means dark energon should be able to detect other sources of dark energon.” He began. “Kayden still has some dark energon in her due to her poisoning and it’s radiating with the dark energon that’s been steadily flowing through Earth as Unicron began to wake up. The pulsing is in fact the flow of his spark.”  
“Rafael is feeling it now as well since he has dark energon in him too, even if the dosage isn’t lethal.” Ratchet explained. “Kayden has had it flowing in her longer so her connection is much stronger.”  
“Does that mean Kayden can sense when Unicron wakes up?” Bulkhead asked.  
“She should.” Ratchet answered.  
“He already is.” Kayden replied. All of them turned to her and stared. Kayden glanced between them before pointing a finger to her head. “His voice has been clawing at my brain for the last ten minutes.”  
Optimus stood up and hovered closer to her. Concern laced his features and his optics focused solely on her. “Is he speaking to you?” He asked.  
“I don’t think so. It feels more like an echo.” Kayden said.  
Optimus let out an ex-vent in relief and stood up straight. Unicron had not made a connection with Kayden. He couldn’t say the same for Megatron, however. The mech had shown signs of being influenced in his words and actions but Kayden seemed to be in her right mind and Unicron may not have thought much of his link to her as he did with Megatron, if he even noticed it.  
“We need to find a way to stop Unicron from awakening.” Optimus stated. “In the event that he does, Earth will without a doubt be destroyed.”  
“What if we destroy him first?” Agent Fowler suggested.  
“I am afraid that that would cause the death of this planet.” Optimus replied. “I have an idea but I do not believe it would work. I doubt the Destroyer would have sympathy for his own creations, but I must try.”  
“And if that fails?” Ratchet questioned.  
“I will call for backup.” Optimus stated.  
“Okay, so while you guys go talk to an ancient god, I’ll be taking the children someplace safe since Raf needs a hospital.” June stated, putting her hands on the shoulders of the small boy. “And this is clearly not something we can help with so we are leaving.”  
“Nurse Darby, I understand your caution but the safest place for the children to be is here.” Optimus said, stepping closer to her.  
“The safest place is here? How?” June argued. “Raf nearly got killed when he was with one of you and it’s not even the first time one of them was poisoned by a material from your planet! I’ve heard Miko talk about nearly being caved in and I had to listen to that spider robot lady tell my son that she wants his head as a trophy! Do you really think that this place counts as safe when these children are facing dangers no one knows about?”  
Optimus stayed silent. He’s had Agent Fowler being angry at him before but it was somehow different when June was angry. She was a bit scarier but he felt that she was also a bit unreasonable. He ex-vented and gestured towards the children.  
“I understand your view on this but I will leave the decision to them.” He said, taking a step back.  
June huffed and steered Raf into the back seat of her car. The boy obeyed, knowing that he was sick. She then turned to the three youths who had now crowded at the bottom of the stairs, watching her, but not going towards her.  
“Kayden.” June said, eyeing the girl whom she thought needed medical attention just like Raf.  
“Nope.” Kayden said, walking back up the stairs.  
June let out a grunt and looked at Miko. “Miko?”  
“You’re not my mom.” Miko said, following Kayden.  
June held back a string of curses that she wanted to say. Her eyes locked onto Jack, onto her son. “I am yours.” She said, pointing to the spot in front of her. “Now, Jack Darby.”  
Jack hesitated, he stared at the ground where his mother was pointing, hand gripping the railing. He took a glance back at the two girls, Miko had fire in her eyes and Kayden seemed calm. He bit his lip and looked up at his mother.  
“No.” He said, making her look up. “I’m staying here.”  
June stepped closer to her son but seeing his expression, his straight back and clenched fists, she knew that he wasn’t going to back down. She grit her teeth and turned around, storming to her car, slamming the door when she got in. She didn’t even look back at them as she drove out of the base.  
It wasn’t until she was out that Miko gave Jack a punch on the shoulder for standing up to his mom. Kayden nodded at him before looking up at Optimus who had placed his hand on Bumblebee’s shoulder.  
“Follow them and make sure they arrive safely.” Optimus told the scout. “I have a bad feeling.”  
Bumblebee let out a short beep before transforming and driving after the overbearing mother and his friend. Optimus turned back to the bridge, giving Ratchet a single nod before entering through the ground bridge and disappearing.  
“So now what?” Miko asked.  
“All we can do is wait.” Ratchet said. “Wait, and hope.”

Bumblebee had returned with June and Raf after a tornado almost blew them away. Not long afterwards, all but Ratchet went after Optimus who requested assistance. Now they all stared at their leader as he told them his plan and for once, every single one couldn’t agree with him.  
“You want to bring Megatron here!?” Ratchet shouted, staring at disbelief. “Optimus are you crazy?”  
“No offense, Optimus, but I have to agree with Ratchet on this.” Arcee said. “What about the kids?”  
“We will hide the children away from Megatron’s sight.” Optimus said.  
“And what if he calls all of the cons on us?” Bulkhead asked.  
“He will not be here long enough to realize our location.” Optimus assures them. “Simply long enough to help us get inside Unicron so we can defeat him.”  
“And how do you intend to do that?” Fowler questioned. “You said it yourself that we can’t kill him.”  
“I intend to use the power of the Matrix of Leadership in order to seal him away, just as the original thirteen Primes did, eons ago.” Optimus stated, looking down at his chassis.  
“Optimus you don’t know what that could do to you!” Ratchet warned.  
“It is a risk I must take if we hope to prevent Earth from meeting the same fate as Cybertron.” Optimus stated, looking between his team.  
His optics looked down at the group of humans who now stood on the first floor. Agent Fowler stood the closest, still in disbelief of his plan and Nurse Darby seemed to share his expression. Kayden, Jack, Miko and Raf, however, all looked at him with confidence and trust. A trust that he hoped wouldn’t be broken when Megatron entered the base.  
“Alright Optimus, we will go with your plan.” Ratchet said.  
“But we will be giving Megatron a warm welcome.” Bulkhead stated, bringing out his blaster and wrecking ball.  
“I am certain he expects no less.” Optimus said.  
As the ground bridge opened, each bot aside from Optimus raised their guns, pointing it at the portal and standing guard. Ratchet quickly hushed the humans away to hide behind some crates so that they would not be within reach of the warlord. Optimus stood to the side, weapons down and stance relaxed but he kept his mind sharp, in case he needed to act.  
“I want to see him!” Miko whined, standing next to Kayden who had already found a peeking spot.  
“No, he’s too dangerous.” Ratchet stated, returning with the others as the girl huffed.  
The atmosphere grew tense as Megatron stepped out of the ground bridge, shoulders relaxed. His optics trailed over each of the Autobots, taking note of their weapons and expressions. His eyebrow plate quirked and he grinned. Showing sharp fangs hidden behind a scarred face plate.  
“Well now this is as warm of a welcome as I expected.” Megatron stated.  
“Don’t get too comfortable.” Ratchet warned him.  
From their hiding spot, Kayden could feel an energy radiating off of Megatron and noticed a strum of pulses that wrapped around him. Sickly sweet and downright repulsive, just like the pulses of Unicron. Jack had informed her that Megatron had dark energon flowing through him and now she could actually tell that he did.  
He was taller than Optimus who was by far one of the largest mechs, a large blaster sat firmly on his right arm and spikes decorated his overall smooth armor. He gave off the feeling of a seasoned warrior, someone who spent more time fighting lawless fights unlike Optimus who was a soldier of war. Kayden narrowed her eyes at the large mech. He was the one who had hurt Raf.  
As she was thinking, said boy suddenly ran up to the Decepticon Warlord, shocking everyone with his sudden act. They quickly trailed after him, coming into view of Megatron who had turned to face Raf with a grin. The small boy clenched his fists, Kayden could see his shoulders shake, but he wanted to make a stand against the titan.  
“Ah, you are looking much better than I thought you would be.” Megatron stated, taking note of the blasters that were following his movements.  
Raf stood with his chest out and glared the best he could until Jack pulled him away towards Agent Fowler. “Come on Raf, he’s not worth it.” Jack said, catching the boys attention.  
“It’s Jack isn’t it, I’m not one to forget a face.” Megatron stated. “Especially not of one who did me a favor.”  
Jack looked over his shoulder and gave Megatron a single look but Miko rushed past him, pointing a finger at Megatron.  
“If you do anything to harm our bots it will be my face that you never forget!” She shouted. Agent Fowler had to drag the girl away as she continued to shout. “Never!”  
Megatron lifted an eyebrow plate, truly fascinated by Miko’s outburst and a part of him commended the girl on being brave enough to threaten him. His attention then stopped on the single human left, one he had never seen before. Female from the shape, pale brown hair and a calm face with green eyes that sent a chill down his back strut. He couldn’t read this human.  
“It seems you’ve been holding back on me, Optimus.” Megatron said. “I do not recognize this little one.”  
Optimus said nothing, his optics narrowed as he stared at Megatron and then back at Kayden. The girl hadn’t moved, eyes fixed on Megatron as if she intended to stare the Warlord down. Jack came up behind her, putting his hand on her shoulder but Kayden never broke eye contact.  
“Come on Kayden.” He said, watching her face.  
“Jack,” Kayden said softly, still staring Megatron down. “We still have those scraplets, right?”  
Megatron reeled back ever so slightly at the mention of the space pests that could destroy an entire fleet.  
“I mean technically yes, but why?” He asked in confusion.  
“We might need them.” She said, narrowing her eyes at Megatron.  
The Warlord grinned and let out a laugh, causing the bots to flinch and readjust their grips. “Is that a threat?”  
Kayden tilted her head to the side and gave Megatron a sickly sweet smile, teeth bared behind slightly parted lips. “Yes.” Was all she said before turning around, her face going back to its neutral expression and she walked back to where the others were.  
Jack followed, his eyes flickering back to the bots who had been stunned by Kayden’s expression. Even Optimus found himself frozen, unable to process the side of his friend that he hadn’t even been able to imagine. Megatron had been put back, caught off guard by the bloodlust he felt, unlike anything he’d experienced in the Pits of Kaon. This wasn't the bloodlust of a angered beast, it was something else that he couldn't comprehend.  
“That was creepy.” Jack told Kayden, whispering as he was certain that she didn’t want the others to realize what she did. “Are you angry?”  
Kayden glanced at him. “Of course not.” She said. “I’m livid.  
“Kayden, I need to speak with you.”  
Jack and Kayden stopped and turned back to Optimus who had walked up to them. Behind him, Megatron stood with blasters pointed at him. Jack left to meet up with Miko as Optimus knelt down so that he could speak with Kayden easier. Kayden looked up at him and tilted her head to the side.  
“I want to entrust you with something before we leave.” He said, pulling out a large but thin device. As he held it up to her, the item began to collapse on itself as it got smaller and smaller to the point it could fit in Kayden’s hand. The girl took it, looking it over before giving Optimus a curious look.  
“It is… the key to the ground bridge.” Optimus said. When Kayden gave him a look saying she didn’t believe that, Optimus frowned. “You’ve become a friend to me over the last few months and while I cannot explain everything, I know that you are the only one that I can entrust this to.”  
Kayden looked down at the so-called key. It was a symmetrical labyrinth of metal with blue bio lights pulsing through it. “I’ll take good care of it.” Kayden promised, giving him a small smile.  
Optimus returned the smile and nodded before standing up and returning to the Autobots. Kayden held the key close to her chest, it was cool to the touch and gave off a strange sensation. She went back to the others, as Ratchet set the coordinates and the ground bridge opened. She watched as each of them disappeared one by one, following Megatron into the core of Unicron.  
A knot formed in Kayden’s stomach as the ground bridge shut down and they were gone. And she had a feeling that someone wasn’t going to come back.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading!


	9. Chasing Stars

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I promise there will be more shipping fluff from now on. I had to build up through the first season ;v;

Time.  
That's all it was.  
Yet it was endless. Each waiting second felt like hours and every minute tightened the knot that grew in her gut.  
Kayden considered herself a patient person but no amount of patience could hold back this anxiety that was seeded inside of her. The ticking sound of the clock on the wall was so loud that it overtook the pulsing of Unicron to the point that Kayden didn't even notice that the pulsing had stopped.  
She was so transfixed where she stood, eyes glued to the rock wall that would open a ground bridge. She noticed Miko placing her hand on her shoulder and she barely managed to tear her eyes away to look down at the younger girl. Concern laced Miko's features and Kayden could see her own reflection in her eyes, her knitted brows and trembling lips that gave away just how worried she was. Just how insecure she felt about this entire situation.  
"They'll be okay." Miko said, but Kayden was certain that the girl was also saying it to herself. "They'll beat up the unicorn dude and come right back."  
Miko smiled, it was forced and Kayden felt a tug at her heart over it. She adjusted her feet, released her grip on the railing and patted Miko on the head, giving her an equally forced smile. Miko accepted it and hugged Kayden's arm to look over the railing. Jack had joined them but he kept glancing back at Raf who was resting on the medical bed with his mom and Agent Fowler at his sides.  
"They'll make it back." Jack said, taking a spot on the other side of Miko. "They're our bots after all."  
"Damn straight!" Miko said, her tone stronger as she gave Jack a punch in the arm. The boy complained and rubbed it but it was obvious that Miko hadn't hit him hard enough to hurt.  
How long had it been since the Autobots followed Megatron into the heart of Unicron? No one knew and at that time, no one cared. Because when they returned, they were beaten and exhausted… and Optimus wasn't there. The kids, even Raf, ran up to their guardians, making sure that they were okay. All accept Kayden, who stood still and looked desperately at the ground bridge, hoping for Optimus to just be trailing behind.  
Megatron gave them a hard time when it was all done and he was holding the Warlord off. That had to be it, right? They had silenced Unicron, the back of her mind had registered the sudden disappearance of the pulsing but it wasn't important right now. She didn't hear Ratchet’s question, but she turned to them when the ground bridge finally closed… and Optimus still wasn't there.  
"I don't know why, but Optimus went with Megatron." Arcee said, clenching her servo and glaring at her own pedos.  
"It’s like he didn’t even recognize us!" Bulkhead explained. He caught Miko who was trying to climb up onto his lap.  
Ratchet stood up and took a couple of steps back, his head shaking as he brought a servo to his chin. "Could it be?" The medic said aloud. His face showed fear and disbelief.  
"Mind sharing what you know with the rest of us?" Arcee asked. She wasn’t in the mood for secrets.  
"In order to seal away Unicron, Optimus had no choice but to use the power of the Matrix of Leadership." Ratchet explained. "It could be that when the power of the Matrix was drained, Optimus's state of mind returned to before he had become a Prime."  
"There was a time before he was Optimus Prime?" Miko questioned.  
"What exactly is the Matrix of Leadership?" Jack asked. Optimus had mentioned it earlier but he hadn't had time to ask.  
"It's a mystic device that chooses who becomes a Prime." Kayden said, walking down the stairs. "It also gives those who wear it a connection to Primus. Or so it’s written."  
Ratchet nodded at Kayden and turned back to the group. "Optimus wasn't always a Prime. He was originally a simple archivist at the Iacon Hall of Records, who went by the designation: Orion Pax. Orion realized that the ancient social structure of Cybertron would lead to its destruction and sought out a way to save our planet." Ratchet paused, his face in a tight scowl before he continued. "Orion came to interact with Megatronus, a champion of the gladiator pits and an activist who shared the same views as Orion. The two became friends and worked together but when it came time to speak with the Council, Megatronus began to threaten them.  
"Megatronus tried to use force to take over the Council and demanded to be made a Prime. Orion spoke up then, speaking against Megatronus and the Council listened. Finally, after so many centuries, here was a mech who could be a hero. Here was someone worthy of becoming a Prime. And so Orion Pax became known as Optimus Prime and Megatronus changed his name to Megatron, rose his armies and attacked Cybertron, beginning the Great War."  
Silence fell after Ratchet finished his speech. Kayden watched him as her mind replayed the words over and over. Ratchet had known Optimus when he'd been Orion, she had been told this. But Optimus had also told her that he and Megatron had originally fought on the same side during the war. Ratchet’s words seemed forced, like a propaganda speech. Kayden felt an itch as she pieced things together.  
Had someone instigated the war?  
She tucked the thought away. That would be scratched at another time.  
"So does this mean Optimus has turned back into Orion Pax?" Jack asked.  
"His frame looked the same." Bulkhead said. Bumblebee let out a few chirps and beeps.  
"It is more likely to assume that his memories from after becoming Orion have been suppressed." Ratchet said. "He most likely is unaware that a war had even started."  
"So what if we just show him something to shock his memory?" Miko suggested.  
"That could work if we could get to him." Arcee said. "And what could awaken his memories if he didnt even recognize us?"  
"Kayden." Miko said, pointing at the girl who was now leaning against an empty energon box. The bots turned to Kayden before thinking about it for several seconds.  
"It could work." Arcee finally said.  
"Bossbot is closest with Kayden after Ratchet." Bulkhead added.  
Bumblebee let out a whirl of whorps in agreement as Kayden felt her cheeks flush. Had she really gotten that close to Optimus?  
"It is logical but how are we supposed to get Kayden to him?" Ratchet asked again. As if on cue, a beacon lit up on the screen and Ratchet turned around swiftly to see what it was from. "It's the Nemisis."  
"Something must have happened to its cloaking device." Bulkhead guessed.  
"No time like the present." Arcee said, standing up. "Bridge me onto the ship. Let's go, Kayden."  
Arcee transformed and began to idle as Kayden walked up to her. Ratchet turned towards thd two and placed his hands on his hips.  
"You expect me to just bridge you two onto a ship full of Decepticons and not to mention Megatron himself?" The medic questioned. "It’s dangerous enough on your own, Arcee, but to bring Kayden with you? Optimus would never forgive me if something happened!"  
"Then I’ll make sure nothing happens." Arcee stated boldly. "Besides, us two alone can sneak around much easier than anyone else."  
Ratchet knew that Arcee was right. He also knew that Kayden may be the only person who could shock his memories. But it was dangerous, too dangerous.  
"Kayden, here." Jack said, handing his helmet to the older girl. Kayden took it with a nod in thanks.  
"Jack, you aren't just going to say nothing, right?" June asked. He couldn't believe that her son would okay his guardian and Kayden into raiding the enemy base alone.  
"This is our best bet at getting Optimus back." Jack said.  
Ratchet ex-vented and returned to the computer. He set the coordinates for the Nemesis and pulled the lever, opening the swirling ground bridge in front of them. Kayden climbed onto Arcee and put the helmet on.  
"Keep your com-link on, I'll bridge you back as soon as you ask." Ratchet said.  
"We'll bring him back." Arcee promised as she revved and shot straight through the ground bridge.

*** 

Orion glanced out of his habsuite. It had been quite noisy lately. The guards told him not to worry about it and he knew that he should just focus on the project that Megatronus gave him, but his curiosity had gotten the better of him.  
The guards were gone now and suddenly a deathly silence filled the halls of the Nemesis. Orion glanced around, noting a lack of soldiers and he was now only able to hear his own pedos as they landed. He felt, taller and bigger than before. His frame seemed to have been upgraded in his stasis. He was nearly the same height as Megatronus when before he had just come to his chassis.  
As he stepped closer to a side hall, Orion noticed the sound of a revving engine, very different from the four-wheelers that the soldiers were. Did the Decepticons have a two-wheeler?  
His question was never answered as he was met by Soundwave where the halls split. The silent mech had been by Megatronus's side for centuries and Orion had met him on several occasions before. He had caught a glimpse of a bright light before he came to a stop.  
"I heard a commotion." Orion stated, glancing down the hall. There were no bots in sight, let alone the two-wheeler he'd heard.  
Soundwave simply shook his head and pointed towards the direction of Orion's habsuite. The motion was obvious, he wanted the mech to return to his work. Orion gave a reluctant nod and turned around, giving the hallway a single glance before returning.  
Now back in his habsuite, Orion began to contemplate everything that he had been told since he arrived. Starscream had been quite strange, calling him Optimus Prime and talking about how Megatronus was lying. The commotion earlier had definitely sounded like a fight and Soundwave had even found it necessary to come out of the bridge. The mech drummed his fingers and accidentally opened a file in his processor that showed pictures he had taken.  
Orion had expected them to be of Cybertron, after all he had been put in stasis on his home planet, at least that's what Megatronus had told him. But no, the first picture wasn't of Cybertron but instead of a strange organic creature.  
"A human." Orion muttered, analyzing the photo. He had done some research on the native species of the planet. Humans were very small and fragile but held a great deal of intelligence but had a long history of fighting with each other as they divided themselves up into various countries.  
This human was female and young with straight, light brown hair that went down her back. She was pushing a strand away from her face and her green eyes looked down at the book that had been carefully placed against her folded legs. She was reading the book aloud, Orion noticed as her mouth was slightly ajar. She was resting against something made of black cables and plating and a red plate could be seen in the edge of the photo.  
Staring at the photo gave Orion a sensation of nostalgia almost. As if he knew the human female and he knew what story she was reading. And a part of him wanted to admit that the cable wires and red plating were his. But that would mean he'd met a human before and that he hadn't been completely in stasis. Which meant Megatronus had lied to him. But why would Megatronus lie about such things?  
Said mech came into the habsuite, the door making a loud whooshing noise to announce his entrance but Orion did not turn to face his friend. Megatron stopped just feet away from Orion, eyebrow quirked up but he spoke instead of waiting for his old friend to acknowledge him.  
"I heard that you left this room." Megatron stated.  
"I heard blaster fire and I wanted to make sure everyone was alright." Orion said.  
"Ah, a tender spark as always. You always did show concern for the well-being of others." Megatron began. "It was nothing more than a lone Autobot attempting a suicide ambush on us when out cloaking device was down. They have been disposed of.”  
"You killed them?" Orion asked, glancing back at Megatron who simply shook his helm.  
"Do not fret my archivist, Shockwave merely sent them... someplace a bit chilly." Megatron said, arms out as a way of showing that he meant no harm.  
Orion relaxed his shoulders and glanced back at the picture of the human girl. He turned to face Megatron and held out the image. For a spit klik, Orion was certain he saw panic on his friend's faceplate but it quickly vanished.  
"Why did I find this photo on me?" He asked. "Who is this human?"  
"That is one of the humans that Ratchet managed to get his hands on." Megatron stated carefully. He picked his words with caution, wanting to make sure that Orion would sympathize with him but not see the humans as an enemy. Because the old gladiator knew that Orion would never view such a weak race as the enemy. "He managed to trick several youths to do as he tells them but we have been unable to separate them from the Warlord. They are quite well protected."  
"But that doesn't explain why I posses a picture of one." Orion added.  
"Ratchet must have intended to use her against you and put that picture into your processor so you felt a sense of familiarity." Megatron lied. "I have seen that human but once, unlike the others, so he may have been trying to… groom her to watch after you when he decided to awaken you."  
"It would be nice if we could free them." Orion said, looking at the photo with a sympathetic stare. A stare that Megatron knew all too well. Orion had become attached to the humans already.  
"We are trying, my archivist, but we can't rush things." Megatron said, placing his servo on Orion's shoulder. "But if we rush, we run the risk of putting them in danger."  
"I understand. I will return to my work then." Orion said, giving his old friend a smile. Megatron nodded and left as Orion went back to the Iacon records that needed decoding. He glanced back down at the photo one last time before shaking the doubt from his processor.

***

Kayden pulled tighter at the thick blanket that had been wrapped around her. Underneath her bare legs and arms were red and burning despite how cold she was. She shivered and let out another sneeze as she shoved her barefoot under a pillow. This is what happens when you go to the Arctic in shorts and a tank top. Even if it hadn't been your fault but the fault of Soundwave and his ground bridge tricks.  
Kayden rubbed her nose against a new tissue, ignoring the raw feeling that had started. The kids had gathered around her in concern over her current state. She had only been in the Arctic for a few minutes but it had done enough.  
"I’m sorry, Kayden." Arcee said, stepping closer to the platform. "This was my fault."  
Kayden looked up at Arcee after accepting a cup of soup from Agent Fowler. She shook her head and gave the blue femme a small smile.  
"Between getting blasted in half or sent to the Arctic for a few minutes, I'd take the latter." She stated, taking a long drink. "I can also say I stood in the Arctic in a tank top and lived."  
"Why do you always have to take everything lightly?" Ratchet asked. The medic nearly had his spark stop when Arcee stated that they'd been transported to the Arctic. Cold weathers were bad on them but killed humans much quicker.  
"I am an incredibly stressed person and I have no intention of increasing those levels." Kayden stated, finishing her soup. "Did you put alcohol in that?"  
"Best way to get a system up and running." Agent Fowler said, crossing his arms over his chest. "Warmed you up didn't it?"  
"Everything but my butt." Kayden said. She shuffled in her blanket burrito and pulled out the key that Optimus had given her from her back pocket. Ratchet immediately stopped muttering and stared at it.  
"Kayden, where did you get that?" Ratchet questioned, pointing at the small piece of cold metal.  
"Optimus gave it to me before he left." Kayden said. "Said it was the key to the ground bridge."  
"The ground bridge doesn't have a key." Ratchet explained.  
"I didn't think it did either." Kayden giggled. Oh the alcohol was starting to get to her head now.  
"Then what is it?" Raf asked.  
"The key to Vector Sigma." Ratchet stated. "Which means Optimus never intended on coming back…"  
The old medic looked away in remorse and guilt. Optimus had known that this would happen and he'd handed over the one thing that could make a difference to a human he'd become fond with. A human who was currently recovering from nearly freezing to death and who was drunk as a side effect.  
"Do you mean Optimus knew this would happen?" Arcee questioned, standing up from the medical berth that she had been placed on.  
"He most likely assumed that this was a great possibility, but said nothing so no one would stop him." Ratchet answered.  
"But why go through all of this just to end up forgetting us?" Bulkheaf questioned.  
"Because he entrusted the future to someone he trusted, to Kayden." Ratchet said. Everyone looked at the key that was still firmly grasped in the hands of the small human girl.  
"What exactly is Vector Sigma?" Jack asked.  
"It’s said to be the origin of all information on Cybertron." Ratchet said. "You can download anything from it!"  
"Like the Matrix of Leadership?" Kayden probed.  
Ratchet's optics widened and he placed a servo to his faceplate. "It would without a doubt be possible." He said. "Vector Sigma's exact location is unknown, but we do know it's on Cybertron."  
"Which we can't get to because we have no space bridge." Bulkhead said in frustration.  
Gloom hung over the group at the words of the large mech. A heavy silence filled the room until a call for Agent Fowler had them needing to head out.  
"Cons are attacking a factory, aiming to get a quantum generator." He said. "I know that the big guy isn't here, but we can't let them get that power source."  
"Why would they even need a quantum generator?" Miko questioned. She mispronounced quantum but none of them had the time to point it out.  
"Most likely to rebuild their space bridge." Ratchet stated, preparing the ground bridge.  
"Great, we need one and the Cons are actually making one." Miko scoffed, placing her hands on her hips.  
"Not if we have anything to say about it." Arcee stated, going towards the portal. "Bee, Bulkhead, let's go."

An hour later, the three Autobots trudged through the ground bridge and collapsed wherever their pedos had brought them. They were exhausted and beaten and the Decepticons had gotten away with the generator. Frustration and tension hung in the air, strung thin like the fine cords of a guitar. The moment someone would try to play them, a savage note would play and snap the string of tension.  
That note came from Agent Fowler who wasn't too happy about the damages that had been done to his men despite their help. "What was that out there?" The man asked, anger growing in his throat. "I’ve got over ten casualties and twenty hurt, several damaged vehicles and half of the factory was destroyed."  
"We're sorry Agent Fowler, but things were out of control." Ratchet said, trying to lessen the tension.  
"Optimus would've known what to do." Arcee said, shaking her helm.  
"Yeah, except he isn't here." Bulkhead spat.  
"You're pretty good at stating the obvious Bulk, got anything else to add?" Arcee snapped back, standing up.  
The mech met her stance with his jaw tight. "Nothing I can say in front of the children." He threatened.  
The three kids and a still slightly intoxicated Kayden walked up to them as Jack put his hands up.  
"Woah, woah you two calm down!" The teen boy said. "This isn't the time to be arguing with each other."  
"Yeah especially not when we handed over what Megatron needed to rebuild his space bridge!" Arcee hissed.  
"Then how about we let them rebuild their space bridge?" Jack asked. "And then commandeer it and use it to send Kayden to Cybertron."  
They all stared at Jack, mostly because the idea was absolutely insane. "That could actually work." Miko chimed in.  
"Oh if Miko thinks it’s a good idea." Arcee scolded, leaning down to eye level of the four humans.  
"I say to Cybertron we go!" Kayden said, throwing a fist in the air and earning a cheer from Miko.  
"The drunk person doesn't get an opinion in this." Arcee added.  
"I’m offended, I'm merely tipsy." Kayden said. "And how come you are okay with storming Nemesis but not Cybertron?"  
"Because this is another planet with no oxygen and a lot more dangers!" Arcee stated.  
"More dangerous than Megatron?" Jack asked.  
"Aren’t you supposed to be on my side in this?" Arcee questioned him.  
"I thought it was you who was supposed to be on my side since I'm the one who suggested Kayden going to Cybertron." Jack retorted.  
"Why do any of you have to go to Cybertron?" June interrupted. "Why can't you just give the key to Arcee and have her go?"  
"Because it doesn't work like that." Ratchet stated. "Optimus passed on the key to Kayden. That's no different from being chosen by the key. The only one who could hopefully make it to Vector Sigma is Kayden."  
June looked disgruntled over this information. Jack looked at Kayden and gave her a nudge.  
"I don’t think it looks too good that our ‘chosen one’ is plastered." Jack joked.  
Kayden scowled. "Tipsy, I am tipsy. It takes a lot more than some bourbon in soup to get me plastered."  
"You are more talkative though." Raf noted.  
"Side effect of alcohol, nothing to worry about." Kayden added.  
"Well its time to sober up because we need to get you into space." Fowler said. "I've got connections to NASA and I can get you a space suit."  
"So how many laws am I breaking going off world?" Kayden asked.  
"Let’s not go there." Fowler stated.

***

Going into space and seeing the world from a view you'd never imagine is a dream many people had. Kayden was no different. She'd always daydreamed about what it would be like to be in zero gravity, hovering over the Earth in what could be considered nothing more than a joy ride. She’d watch the Earth rotate and its horizon change. It was a surreal and fascinating dream that was completely possible and completely out of reach at the same time.  
Going to another planet? Now that was a dream in a dream of a sci-fi movie that's been done over and over. Mars is generally always the victim of this idea, probably because it was the closest habitable planet outside of Earth, or at least it could be if it was terra-earthed.  
So the idea of going to another planet, an alien planet with sentient life and a society as old as her planet itself. Now this was exciting. And sneaking into an enemy base to commandeer their space bridge to go to Cybertron with said sentient race in order to save their leader and her dear friend. That was just exillerating.  
Kayden always knew she was a bit of an adrenaline junky. Her calm exterior and her laid back attitude was accompanied with a thrill for that rush that washed over her during the first drop of a roller coaster. Or when a drop tower teasingly releases you a few times before plummeting down to the earth or the idea of jumping out of a plane with nothing but string and fabric to prevent you from splattering to the ground in an unidentifiable mess.  
Now that adrenaline was hiding behind a rock in a hidden cavern where Vehicon were guarding a space bridge under the guise of the place being an active energon mine. Which it was as well, but the giant space bridge portal positioned on a massive circular platform was by far more impressive than the toxic blue crystals dotting the walls. Even if they were pretty.  
It didn’t take long for Arcee, Bulkhead and Bumblebee to clear out the cave of soldiers. Kayden peeked over at them before trotting over to where they stood as she tried to get used to the space suit. It was bulky and heavy and had limited space in weird places.  
"Ready to go?" Arcee asked.  
Kayden gave her a nod and they moved over to the platform. It didn’t take long for Bulkhead to get the bridge up and running and Arcee transformed. Kayden looked down at the motorcycle and carefully sat onto her. Once the femme was certain that Kayden wouldn't fall off, they shot through the bridge as fast as they could.

The sight of Cybertron was somber but also amazing at the same time. Kayden had climbed off of Arcee and was staring around at the city they had landed in. Buildings were collapsed and charred and she could barely make out roads amongst the debris. Reflective glass seemed to line the streets and buildings towered far higher than she thought possible. Skyscrapers for the titans.  
"This wasn't how we wanted you guys to see our home." Arcee said softly.  
Kayden turned back to the femme who was looking away. Maybe she knew this area, maybe this was where she'd grown up. Kayden walked up to her and placed a hand on her knee.  
"Then let’s make sure we have a next time." Kayden suggested.  
Arcee stared down at Kayden and gave her an appreciative smile. She shook her head and looked up ahead.  
"I guess we need to figure out where Vector Sigma is." Arcee stated, strength in her voice again. "Maybe the key can help?"  
Kayden took the key out of her pocket and tried holding it up. It vibrated slightly before releasing a straight beam of blue light that vanished in the distance.  
"My guess is that way." Kayden stated, using her free hand to point out the direction. Arcee nodded and transformed again into her alt mode.  
"Lets go." 

Kayden wasn’t used to riding something like a motorcycle. She had had the luxury of a roomy and cozy cab ride belonging to Optimus. Thankfully Arcee did most of the work, occasionally instructing her on loosening her grip or tightening her legs when she took sharp turns to prevent her from losing balance. The further they drove, the worse the damage got and the more bodies began to pile up.  
Empty husks, darkened in color— many missing limbs or having their chassis's gouged open.  
Kayden knew about war. There are plenty of examples throughout human history that show the horrors of war. But she had never experienced war. She'd never been on a battlefield where hundreds of thousands of bodies had fallen. So riding past the fallen Cybertronians left a sense of reality in the girl. And a sense of foreboding. She was driving through a remnant of an ancient war, a graveyard of fallen soldiers.  
When the road split, Arcee came to a stop and Kayden pulled out the key to recheck the direction before continuing to drive. As they made their way down roads, they were silent until Arcee became aware of where they were going.  
"We're heading straight for Kaon." Arcre noted.  
"That’s where the gladiator pits are." Kayden said.  
"During the early years of the war, Megatron used Kaon as the capital of the Decepticons." Arcee explained.  
They crossed a long bridge and came to a stop right outside the gladiator stadium. Right in front of it was a statue of Megatron that was cracked and damaged but still stood tall. As Arcee came to a stop, Kayden got off and looked up to the statue of the warlord. The expression seemed prideful but oddly, not the same prideful expression she'd seen on him at the base. Arcee stretched and glanced around.  
"So is this where the key wanted us to come?" Arcee asked.  
Kayden pulled out the key once more and held it up. She felt a slight vibration go through her hand as it glowed and released a wave of light. The ground rumbled as a large entrance opened up, just like out of a video game sequence.  
"Ironic isn't it?" Arce asked. "All this time the Decepticons were here and never once knew that Vector Sigma was under their chassis."  
A loud buzzing filled the air, sounding like a megaphone being held up to a massive swarm of bees. It didn’t take long to locate the source of the noise either as a massive Insecticon came barreling towards them.  
“Head to the entrance!” Arcee shouted at Kayden as she brought out her guns and began to shoot. At the last minute the agile Autobot ducked, narrowly missing getting body slammed by the much larger mech. “I’ll take care of this!”  
Kayden nodded and watched the Insecticons movements before making a dash for entrance to whatever was hidden underneath the stadium. The insecticon noticed her movements and made a beeline for her but was knocked off guard by a flying kick delivered by Arcee. Kayden gave the femme one last glance before heading inside. She knew Arcee was tough but she still hoped that the femme would be okay. They didn’t have back up out here.

Kayden had thought that she would be walking in darkness as she entered a tunnel with the Vector Sigma key in hand but either a motion sensor that still worked or because of the key itself, blue bio-lights illuminated the passageway. It was a cool glow that gave the path a sci-fi effect but also felt a little too real. It also made Kayden feel too small as she had to carefully step over the edges of each concrete slab to prevent herself from tripping over them.  
The sounds of Arcee fighting had long since disappeared and all Kayden could notice was a soft hum and a skittering noise that reminded her of rats in a sewer tunnel. Did Cybertron have an equivalent to rats? Were scraplets the equivalent to rats? If so those are some dangerous Cybertronian rats. But then again Earth rats had brought on a Black Death so maybe it wasn’t so inaccurate.  
Kayden couldn’t help but smile at her own joke. She was certain Raf would have appreciated that one and mentally noted to tell the boy when she got back to Earth.  
_“Do not”_  
Kayden stopped walking and glanced around. Seeing nothing, she continued on.  
_“Get out!”  
“Turn back”  
“Do not belong”_  
Kayden froze again and the words repeated over and over. It wasn’t just one voice speaking, there were several. And these weren’t echoes off of the walls, these were voices in her head. But unlike the time with Unicron, they were talking to her. Kayden frowned and continued to march forward. She didn’t let the Destroyer mess with her head and she certainly wasn’t going to let these disembodied voices bother her either.  
The ending of the hall came into view with an archway that was clearly designed for being much bigger than Kayden. The girl craned her neck to view the top and noticed a lack of decor or decorative markings around the entrance. Generally places of great importance were rather lavish and decorated as such but it seemed Cybertronian architecture was thought of differently than Earths’.  
_“Vile creature born of evil do not enter this room.”_  
This time the voices were clearly trying to scare Kayden and she wasn’t sure if she was hallucinating or if the voices were real but she knew one thing. She was Kayden Fort and she would gladly do things out of spite. She took one dramatic step closer to the door and she swore she heard a disgruntled noise echo through her skull before taking the quickest little hop into the room and walking straight towards the center of it.  
The room was circular with a short bridge that led to a round platform that did not touch any of the walls aside from where it was connected to the bridge. Nothing else seemed to be holding it up and it was a long drop underneath it and even the ceiling was out of view. Which confuses Kayden as she didn’t remember seeing a tower but she also had no idea where she was even located currently or how far she had walked.  
At the center of the platform was a large carving that looked just like the key in her hands. She thanked whoever designed this for making her life easier as she noticed an empty indentation that indicated where the key was to be placed. As she walked towards it, the voices began again but this time the voices mixed together.  
_“Creation of Unicron leave at once.”  
“You do not deserve to be here.”  
“How dare you step upon Primus’s creation!”  
“How do you have the key?”  
“Thief!”_  
“Optimus Prime gave it to me.” Kayden said aloud. She quickly closed her mouth, realizing that she had spoken to whatever the voices were and that maybe that hadn’t been a good idea.  
She was kneeling down, above the indent for the key and was about to place it down. A cold air causes a shiver to run up her spine as she notices a faint glow coming from Vector Sigma. It was a bright blue, almost white and she narrowed her eyes as another voice spoke. This one was smooth and calm and sounded full of wisdom.  
_“Child, what do you intend to do with the power you seek?”_  
Kayden stayed silent for several seconds, contemplating if it was worth answering. A part of her human mind thought that she was hearing things but another part of her knew that Cybertron had many mystics despite being mechanical and that maybe someone or someone’s were really watching her. They knew about Unicron being the base of her planet and they knew that that made her one of his creations in the long run.  
“I’m going to save Optimus.” She said, her eyes never leaving the key in her hand. She had spoken softly, her voice almost cracking.  
_“Why do you wish to save him?”_ The wise voice asked.  
A weight pressed against her back, crushing to her ribs and making it hard for her to breath. This wasn’t just some random Question-the-Human, this was a test. A test for her, an organic that was carrying one of Cybertrons’ most important items and standing in a place no one is supposed to know the location of. This is a test for a creation of Unicron aiding a Prime made by Primus. This was a test for her.  
“Because he’s my friend.” Kayden finally managed to say. Her words came out slowly and softer than before and she wasn’t even sure if they had heard her.  
But the bright light began to fade and a single faded voice echoed in her head.  
_“Well done.”_  
The light faded completely and the room seemed to get darker. With the weight off of her back, Kayden felt lighter and much more aware of her surroundings. She was finally noticing the com-link signal that she was getting from Ratchet. She took a couple of deep breaths before picking it up.  
“Kayden? Kayden can you hear me?” Ratchet asked frantically.  
“I can.” Kayden said. She placed the key into the indent, watching the entire platform light up with a sky blue color.  
“How are things going? I can’t get in touch with Arcee.” Ratchet said.  
“I’m at Vector Sigma and I’m downloading the information now.” Kayden said, getting off of the markings as it rose to stand up. “Arcee is fighting.”  
“What is she fighting?” Ratchet asked.  
“Big bug thing.” Kayden stated.  
“An Insecticon?” Ratchet exclaimed.  
“I don’t know.” Kayden said bluntly. She heard some chattering behind her and turned around in time to see a swarm of scraplets stampede through the open archway. They covered the walls and platform, charging fast. “Scraplets!”  
“Don’t let them near Vector Sigma!” Ratchet warned her. “They could destroy it before the download is complete!”  
“On it!” Kayden said, turning off the call and running towards the closest scraplet and kicking it hard. It flew towards the wall, smashing into others before collapsing in a heap of scrap metal. This didn’t even phase the others and Kayden soon realized that she would have to rethink this.  
She grabbed and kicked at the scraplets, tossing and knocking them over the edge of the platform as fast as she could. She was slow, held down by the weight of the suit and she felt that her strength was nowhere near where it needed to be for this. They had already begun to chew away at Vector Sigma and Kayden rushed to pull them off.  
Behind her, the familiar buzzing and echoing cry of the Insecticon pierced the air as it showed up into the room. The scraplets would ignore her but this thing sure wouldn’t. Kayden kicked a scraplet at the overgrown metal bug and watched it smack it away with ease.  
“Useless little death machines.” She muttered. She stopped however as other scraplets began to notice the intruder and decided that it was a much better meal. Once a few of them managed to latch on, the others were all attracted to the Insecticon, encasing it in tiny swarming bodies of teeth. Kayden stood back as the Insecticon fell to the ground and bounced right off of the edge, falling below along with all of the scraplets.  
Vector Sigma let out a hum and Kayden turned to focus on the thoroughly chewed device. The key glowed and when Kayden removed it, the rest of the device returned to its place on the platform. The key felt warmer now as it seemed to pulse with life and a part of Kayden realized that she now possessed the power of the Matrix of Leadership in her hand.  
Her thoughts were interrupted by Arcee who raced through in her alt mode. She came to a stop in front of Kayden.  
“Are you okay?” The femme asked.  
Kayden nodded and held up the Matrix. “Let’s go save Optimus.”

Kayden stood in front of the swirling vortex of the space bridge. Her hand gripped the Matrix of Leadership as she counted in her head. A battle had started on the other side and it sounded as if it was with Megatron himself. Arcee had told Kayden to wait two minutes and then come through the space bridge. The girl counted off the seconds until two minutes passed before stepping towards the bridge.  
The other side was filled with blaster fire, cursing and Megatron’s crude remarks and cocky gloating. But what stood in front of her was an Optimus Prime who appeared a little off compared to the one she was used to. His stance was less confident and unsure, his eyes a bit wider and he seemed much more naive. But there was still a strength in the way he held himself, a strength that proved that even before he became a Prime, he was a great bot.  
Kayden stopped several feet in front of him and carefully took off the helmet of her space suit. As she tucked it under her arm, Optimus leaned down closer to her. His eyes widening in wonder.  
“You’re the one from the photo.” Optimus said, his tone still deep as usual.  
Kayden was confused about which photo he meant but instead of answering him, she held up the Matrix of Leadership for him. Optimus seemed to understand what it was but looked rather unsure.  
“Am I really worthy?” He asked, pleading almost to this human before him.  
Kayden gave him a warm smile and nodded her head. “More than anyone else.” She told him, releasing the key and letting it float up to his hand where it grew to its original size.  
A light emitted from the Matrix, glowing in sync to Optimus’s spark chamber. Kayden had to close her eyes at the brightness that had caused everyone to stop and watch. When the light finally vanished, the Matrix was gone. Optimus looked down at Kayden before turning to Megatron and charging at him. He knocked the gladiator off of his feet and managed to send him flying across the cavern.  
Optimus honestly has no idea what was going on. He last remembered facing Unicron and now he was in a cavern with Megatron, his team all beat up and for some reason Kayden was there. He didn’t see a reason why they were there and his bots weren’t giving him a reason either so he made the decision that leaving was their best option.  
“Autobots, retreat!” Optimus ordered.  
Ratchet called Raf for a ground bridge and picked up Kayden as he rushed towards it. The others all made their way to their ground bridge as Optimus protected their backs as Megatron charged once more. He gave the warlord several shots before turning and disappearing through the ground bridge, leaving Megatron behind the wallow in his loss.  
As soon as Optimus reappeared through the ground bridge and back into his base, he was approached by Raf first. The boy looked up at him with concern and worry and hesitantly spoke.  
“Optimus?” He asked.  
“Rafael.” Optimus greeted. A small smile crossed his face plate but he was caught off guard when the team cheered and welcomed him back. “It seems much has happened and I must admit that I cannot remember a great deal of it.”  
Ratchet noticed Optimus’s eyes lingering to the Decepticon mark that had been etched onto his shoulder plates. He gave his old friend a pat on the servo and shook his helm. “We will explain everything. But it’s good to have you back.” He said.  
“It is good to be back.” Optimus admitted.


	10. So Quiet, So Brave

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all of the support!

Optimus was stressed. It was obvious to the entire team and not just to the two who knew how to read his subtle changes in mood. But it wasn't just stress; no that would have been easy enough to solve. It was guilt on top of that stress that made it more difficult to drag the Autobot leader out of the fog he'd been stuck in.  
Guilt over forgetting his team.  
Guilt over aiding the Decepticons.  
Guilt over losing the critical information about Iacon Relics.  
Guilt over giving that information to Megatron.  
Kayden sat on the railing of the base platform, legs swaying slightly as she watched Optimus work at the computer. His eyes scanned over every region with strict care as he searched for any sign of the Decepticons. Because at that time, that was all they could rely on. All they could hope for would be seeing Con activity and hoping that they got there in time to recover whatever the Iacon Relics were.   
Kayden watched Optimus with a concerned eye. She noted how his shoulders seemed stiffer, his mouth tight and his eyes focused. She could feel the barriers he'd built up around himself, a defense mechanism against the pressure that had been added onto the pile of responsibilities that clung to his back. She clenched her fists around the railing and glanced back at the other bots on the team.  
Each one was distracted but every now and then they would glance at their leader. They knew too well the pressure he felt and it was obvious that they wanted to help. They wanted to reach out a hand and tell him that things would be alright and that they still had a chance. But none of them could get close enough to touch as they feared that their words wouldn't be enough.  
The computer beeped and heads snapped towards it in impatient tension for anything to get out of the tense atmosphere filling the base. Optimus turned to face his team, giving a slight nod to Ratchet before speaking.   
"The Decepticons have become active." Optimus began. "They most likely decoded the location of an Iacon Relic. It is vital that we recover it first."  
The team stood at attention, waiting to see who their leader would be taking with him.  
"Bumblebee, you are with me." Optimus finally decided. "Arcee, Bulkhead, I want you two to wait here in case another location is decoded and they take action again."   
The two bots nodded as Bumblebee jumped slightly in excitement and stepped closer to the ground bridge. Ratchet activated the device and the entire group watched as the two mechs disappeared inside. Once the bridge was closed, everyone went back to what they were doing before after letting out a deep sigh.  
Arcee offered to watch the computers for Ratchet while Bulkhead and Miko began discussing something about a 'Slash Monkey'. Kayden gave the ground bridge one last look before she noted Ratchet's stare. She nodded her head in acknowledgment to the mech. Ratchet tilted his head, an indication that he wanted Kayden to follow him.   
It wasn't difficult to sneak past the kids who were too occupied with their own endeavors. Kayden made her way down the stairs and followed Ratchet into a smaller side room. This room had tall metal shelves full of tools and vials of blue liquid that she could only assume was energon. There were a couple of metal boxes full of broken tools and several bot sizes needles that sent a shiver up Kayden's spine.  
Ratchet stopped in the middle of the room and turned to face Kayden. To her surprise, the old mech kneeled down in front of her. Kayden put her hands in her pockets and shuffled slightly.  
"I won't jump around the subject but I- no this team needs your help with something." Ratchet said. His voice was a bit hushed as if he was worried that the others would hear them over the sound of the TV and Miko's electric guitar.  
Kayden pointed a finger towards herself and tilted her head in confusion. Ratchet simply nodded.  
"We all know that Optimus is feeling overly pressured right now and he needs something to get his mind off of the war." Ratchrt continued. "As well as the events of the last couple of weeks."  
Kayden knew that Ratchet was right. Optimus needed a break, even a small one. But why her?  
"Why ask me?" She asked. Her tone was soft and quiet as always and each time Kayden spoke, Ratchet was surprised at how quiet a human could be. Either that or he was just used to Miko to the point his audio receptors believed that humans equaled loud noise.  
"Please, anyone on this team knows that Optimus is the closest to you." Ratchet said.  
"You're his old friend." Kayden reminded him.  
"That may be so but I can only do so much to help him." Ratchet added. "You, however, have distracted him from the war for mega-cycles with those books and stories of yours. By Primus the guy is happy when he spends time with you."  
Kayden looked away sheepishly, scratching at hef cheek. Her ears were red and she hoped that Ratchet didn't notice the slight muttering she was doing in a language she immediately forgot she'd spoken in.   
"Look, I know it's a big thing to ask, trust me I know how difficult it is to get Optimus to take a break. I haven't been with him during this four million mega-cycles war without realizing that he's just as much of a workaholic as he was as Orion Pax." Ratchet sighed. "But right now, if anyone can make him step back for even a bit, it's you."  
Kayden took in a small breath and looked up to meet Ratchet’s eyes. "I can try." She told him.  
"I hope you can do more than that but I know how stubborn Optimus can be." Ratchet said. He stood up completely and let out a sigh but seemed satisfied with the situation.  
The two left the little closet and found that nothing had changed and if anyone noticed their absence, they said nothing. Ratchet went to stand next to Arcee and work on some project while Kayden made her way over to Miko to listen to whatever song the girl had pieced together. A vibration from her phone stopped her and she flipped it open.  
A text message from her professor displayed on the screen and hesitantly she opened it. Professor Dawn didn't message her students unless it was important or she was solicitating help for some project. Kayden always did her best to avoid that since the last time she replied she'd ended up at an archeological dig in Greece dealing with the heat and other students making claim to discoveries as she damaged her back from leaning over. She was not going to be going out on another one anytime soon if she could help it.  
But this wasn’t a mass text message like she had sent to the entire class before. No this was a text message just for Kayden and requesting her to call the professor as soon as she could. Kayden stared at the message for several seconds, playing over every single possibility for why Dawn would want her to call. Had something happened at the school? Was she sick or hurt? Did her father try to convince Dawn to transfer Kayden to Harvard again? Did he try to get her to call him since she blocked his number? Maybe he found out about the vacation house and Grandfather refused to be the go between.   
She let out a sigh and closed the phone, mentally making a note to call the professor when she gets home. Maybe that's how she could get Optimus to relax. Take a drive with the excuse of taking her home. She nodded to herself and walked over to Miko who had been eyeing her ever since she opened her phone.

The recovery mission for the Iacon Relic had been successful thanks to Bumblebee's quick thinking. He was currently explaining how he did it to the team with Raf's remote control car, holding it delicately as he made car engine noises. Gently the mech handed the tiny toy car back to his best friend. It was cute to see how careful he was to not break the very fragile toy.  
Optimus stood to the side, watching with a sense of pride over the young scout. Bumblebee had grown a lot since his time on Earth and soon the bot may even be able to hold the title of a warrior. He still needed a bit more experience but Optimus was certain that Bumblebee would be great in the future. He watched the young humans and the rest of the team that had gathered around the scout. This atmosphere was what had let him grow. He was certain of that.  
Each of them had grown so much since interacting with their human charges. Though still bitter over the loss of Cliffjumper, Arcee had grown more open. Bulkhead had gained a better sense of responsibility and grown out of several old wrecker traits of only dealing with problems that he wanted to. Bumblebee had begun to be more careful and grew the most which made sense since he was the youngest. Even Ratchet had become attached to the children despite his previous dislike. It was more than once that Optimus had noted that the old mech would notice when one was upset or smiled fondly at them when they all fell asleep on the couch together.  
Optimus glanced down at his own charge who had chosen to stand a bit back from the group. He had noticed how much more comfortable she seemed to be, talking more and being more open. Her adventurous side had certainly surprised him when she began to show it but she was at least cautious enough to think before she leapt. Today she seemed to have somrthing weighing on her mind. Optimus had seen her under pressure before but it was obvious that even Bumblebee's retelling couldn't drag her from her thoughts.  
The last time Kayden had been so deep in thought, she vanished for two weeks without telling them anything. Was she intending to do so again? Maybe he should discuss things with her again. He would not be able to settle down if she up and vanished again.

It was Arcee who reminded them of curfew, earning complaints from all of the children and a smile from Kayden who helped push them towards the stairs. The three left relatively quickly, knowing that it was better to face the music and go home than risk any of them being grounded again. Jack's grounding had been awkward enough and none of them wanted to know what Raf's mother would do as punishment.   
Kayden watched them leave and looked at Optimus just as the mech took a step closer. "Are you in need of a ride home?" He asked. He didn't like leaving the base just to Ratchet but Bulkhead and Bumblbee would be back soon enough.  
"I am." Kayden said. She walked down the stairs, noticing Ratchet give her a look to remind her about the promise she made earlier. Kayden gave him a slight nod before descending the stairs to the waiting Optimus.  
Outside the base, night had fallen and the desert was basked in moonlight. Kayden watched out the windshield as stars passed by them. Her mind went over how to start a conversation. She was afraid that they'd get to her house before she could say anything and that all of this would've been for nothing. But Kayden had never comforted someone and she honestly had no idea what she was supposed to say or do.  
"Is everything alright?" Optimus asked, breaking the silence.  
Kayden was caught off guard by his question. She was supposed to be asking that even if she already knew the answer to it.   
"I'm alright." She said carefully. "Why?"  
"You seem a bit distant, like you have a lot on your mind." Optimus stated. "The last time you acted like that you disappeared for two weeks."  
Kayden stayed silent for several seconds. Had she become easy to read? Or was she just too obvious about this entire thing.   
"Do you want to go for a drive?" Kayden asked. Was she avoiding this conversation? Of course she was. But this was supposed to be her cheering him up, not him worrying about her. That was a good enough excuse. She hoped.  
Optimus hummed for several seconds before slowing down and turning away from Jasper. Going for a drive was like a code for them at this point. A code used when they wanted to do nothing but talk about books and stories. A code Kayden always used and he hadn't had the courage to.  
"Did you have a place in mind?" Optimus asked. He was driving randomly most of the time but occasionally they found a place to hide out.  
"I do." Kayden said, looking up at the stars. "There is a flat rock formation a mile down this road."  
Optimus hummed in response. He knew which formation she was talking about. It was a rock form that stood beside her home. It was tall and large but had a perfectly flat top. It had most likely been attached to other rock forms of the same kind, creating valleys until erosion destroyed the other parts of it, leaving behind this one that refused to fall.  
The drive was short and silent but warm and comforting. When they arrived at the rock, Kayden could see the remnants of the mostly collapsed house. It hadn’t been cleaned up but wind had scattered several pieces, making the demolishing zone seem bigger than it had originally been. She got out of Optimus’s cab and the mech transformed.   
Optimus knelt down and offered his hand to Kayden. He would need to climb up the rock and she would be safer riding on his shoulder. Once she settled down comfortably, Optimus began to climb. Despite his shoulders moving steadily, Kayden stayed balanced, clinging onto cables and metal plates. She held still and steady and Optimus admitted that he was impressed with how calm she was during this. Climbing wasn't something his species had been built for, they didn't have cliffs and mountains on Cybertron after all.  
Once his shoulder was level with the top of the rock formation, Kayden jumped off of Optimus’s shoulder and moved away from the edge to give him space to climb up completely. Once situated, Optimus looked around, wondering why Kayden had wanted to come here.  
"Lie down." Kayden told him, pointing to the ground.  
"Why do I need to?" Optimus asked. Despite hesitating, he started to kneel so he could carefully lie down.  
"You can’t see it properly unless you do." Kayden said.  
Once lying down, Optimus eyed Kayden as she moved over to his shoulder and laid down as well. It was much easier for her to plop down and she stretched out a little as she did. The coolness of the rock seeped through the back of her clothes, having long lost the heat of the desert sun. She looked over at Optimus and pointed straight up to the sky.  
Optimus turned his head away from his charge and his optics went wide at the view before him. A dark sky was illuminated by millions of small lights that completely filled his field of vision. From their position it felt like the sky was engulfing them in an endless night. A small sigh of amazement escaped him before he realized it.  
Kayden watched his amazement and the slight flicker of his eyes. She noticed how they grew wider and then narrowed as he focused on parts of the starscape. Was he tracing constellations or naming stars? Did he even know Earth constellations?   
"My professor once told me that changing perspective changes your view." Kayden said. "Everyone has a way they prefer to see things. When it comes to stars, I think the best way to view them is on my back with the sky all around me."  
"I never would have considered looking at the sky like this." Optimus admitted. "It is beautiful."  
Kayden smiled as her heart beat jumped slightly at his words. She felt herself relax as she forgot about everything else but the desert, the stars, the wind… and Optimus lying next to her, taking in the stars of her world. It was quiet but it was peaceful and she felt that she could fall asleep here without a care.   
"I feel guilty for enjoying this view despite everything." Optimus said. Kayden turned to him, frowning at his words.  
"You have nothing to feel guilty about." Kayden told him, sitting up. Optimus turned to face her and for once, they were eye to eye.  
"I became a burden to all of you and gave Megatron access to the Iacon Relics." Optimus stated. "I have failed not only my teacher but also my team."  
"No one thinks that." Kayden said, sitting up right. "What happened, happened. Right now we just need to overcome the consequences."  
Optimus watched Kayden, trying to read through the expression he saw. Was she angry at him? Or was she angry at this entire situation.   
"You sound confident about us being able to." Optimus noted.  
"Of course I am." Kayden said, crossing her legs and looking up at the sky. "I know what it’s like to fail someone, I've been doing it my entire life. No one here thinks you failed them."  
Optimus sat up a bit, bracing on his shoulder so he could still see her at eye level. "Kayden, why do you think you failed?" He asked carefully.  
"Don’t change the subject, this is about you." Kayden said, pointing at Optimus.  
Optimus followed her finger before sitting up completely. He bent his legs and looked up at the stars.  
"I feel as though I am not living up to the leader I am supposed to be." Optimus stated. "I feel like I'm lying by not showing them every side of myself."  
Kayden let out a small sigh and looked up at the sky as well. "Plenty of people don't show their complete self to those around them." She said. "Especially those in delicate positions."  
"Are you trying to tell me that this is normal?" Optimus asked.  
"You've been at war for millions of years and had it dragged out to a hopeless end with your planet dying and having a team of five Autobots and four humans against Megatron's multiple amradas." Kayden said. "If you didn't act as the strong and wise leader, none of us would believe that we can win this."  
Kayden stayed silent, glancing back at Optimus who seemed lost for words. "I’m certain if you weren't here, we'd lose all confidence in our abilities to do anything." Kayden said. She remembered the arguments that had piled up when Optimus was gone. The chaos and tension that had nearly snapped any sense of teamwork they had.   
"I did things to aid the enemy." Optimus repeated.   
"Given the circumstances no one is bothered by that." Kayden said. "Because we all know the side of you that is kind and gentle. The side of you that honestly cares about us and we want to stand beside you because of that.  
"Optimus, not a single member of this team, Autobot or human, wants to lean against you and be protected by you. We want to stand beside you. Because we take pride in calling you our leader." Kayden looked away as she finished her words. Part of her couldn’t believe that she'd admitted to all of this. She felt embarrassed for speaking her mind so openly.  
Optimus had gone silent and looked down. He slowly covered his mouth with his hand, processing everything that Kayden had told him. He had never thought that his team felt this way. He had started this war, he had made so many mistakes and even went against them and yet they still saw him as a leader to be proud of. It made his spark swell.  
"Thank you, Kayden." Optimus said, giving her a small smile.  
Kayden smiled back before realizing that she was meant to get his mind off of the war but they had ended up talking about it anyway. She fiddled with her hair and stood up, surprising Optimus.  
"Do you need to go home?" He asked. Kayden simply nodded.

The ride back was silent but not awkward. The lit roadways of Jasper blocked out most of the stars but not nearly as much as it did in DC. Kayden leaned against the back of the seat, embracing the warmth that radiated from it. Her eyes felt heavy and she felt a different level of exhaustion wash over her than she had before. She had spoken a lot tonight and most of it was whatever had come off the top of her head. She, an insignificant human, had lectured Optimus Prime about him being a good leader. It was almost laughable but she didn't have the energy to even smile.  
As he pulled up to the front of her house, Kayden unbuckled and put her hand on the door handle. She hesitated for a second and turned to face the radio.  
"I forgot to mention this earlier, but my favorite side of you is the side that debates over Shakespeare with me and teaches me about the existence of multiverses." Kayden said before leaving the cab and quickly making her way inside her home.  
Optimus watched her disappear into the house and stayed outside for several nano-clicks. Her words made his spark go erratic and tugged at him in a way he hadn't felt in so long. Quietly he drove away, leaving her words to overtake his processor.  
Inside, Kayden turned on her lights and was welcomed with the mess she'd left the place in. Clothes were left on the floor or thrown over the side of chairs. Books and papers were everywhere, dishes were sitting in the sink and boxes of cereal and easy to make foods were sitting on the counter. Usually she wasn't a messy person but lately she'd been too tired to do anything. Too tired to even care.  
Her coffee table was buried under folders and books and thrown about papers with her handwriting littering them. Red marks highlighted mistakes she’d made and her laptop sat open with a black screen. Pushing away a pile of shirts, Kayden sat down on her couch and pushed the power button but nothing happened. Figuring the battery to have died, Kayden unearthed the charger and plugged it in, successfully knocking several books on top of her.   
Kayden shook her head and fixed the books back onto the table and tried turning her laptop on again. This time it powered on and Kayden brushed the hair away from her face and looked over at the microwave. In bright blue, it read a little past 11:00pm. Her professor was most likely still awake and she had been told to call when she next had time.  
Kayden flipped open her phone and started a call. She placed the phone down on speaker as she opened up her program and began to read through the last of her thesis she had typed up. It was mostly done, just needing a conclusion and then editing. This was only the first draft.  
 _"Kayden?"_ Professor Dawn asked.  
"I’m here." Kayden said.  
 _"You are my only student bold enough to call this late."_ The woman laughed. _"Though I am always up this late. Anyway, do you know why I'm calling you?"_  
"Nope." Kayden said bluntly.   
_"It’s the fifth of October."_ Dawn said.  
Kayden stopped typing immediately and stared at her phone. She glanced slowly at the corner of her laptop where the time and date were stamped and sure enough it was the fifth of October, two days after her thesis was due.  
"Fuck." Was all Kayden could say as she sat back. She covered her face with her hands, she felt like crying. She was so tired that all she could really do was cry. She'd lost track of the days when spending time with the Autobots. With everything that had happened, she had lost her sense of time and while she'd admittedly been avoiding working on the thesis at times, she knew that this was not good. She failed.  
She failed again.  
 _"I sent you a couple of emails but you never read them."_ Dawn said. _"You've always been on time, did something happen?"_  
Something happened, plenty of things happened. She'd been dragged into an ancient war of alien titans, learned that their God of destruction was the center of her planet, poisoned by said God’s blood and watched her closest friend lose his memories in an attempt to save them from destruction. She then had to sneak into an enemy base and travel to said planet of the alien titans to find a mystical place no one knew the location of to download the information to save her friend while battling the equivalent of deadly space rats only to watch said friend begin to break down under the guilt of betraying his team. Everything was happening and she was honestly surprised that she hadn't screamed yet because honestly she needed a good scream.  
 _"Kayden?"_ Dawn asked again.  
Kayden flinched and picked up her phone. "Sorry." She said soflty. "A good friend of mine… got hurt badly… I was with him."  
There was silence on the other side of the phone as her professor seemed to contemplate some things.  
 _"Is he okay?"_ She finally asked.  
"He is." Kayden said. "But he's still… recovering."  
 _"Okay, I understand."_ Dawn finally said, her tone back to being cheerful. _"I trust you Kayden, that's hard for a professor in my situation to do but I do. I'll give you an extension since you had other problems going on.  
"In exchange, I want you to come and give your oral in person, not on video camera."_  
Kayden felt her stomach twist at this but she agreed to it.  
 _"Great! I'm excited! Your thesis is going to help a lot, I can tell already. It may even become a manual used for translating in the future."_ The woman cheered.  
Kayden stayed silent. Usually this would've made her happy, but right now it just didn't. Was she too tired to feel excited? Or was her mind still occupied with Optimus that she couldn't think straight. She was certain her lecture helped a bit, but she knew that it wasn't a complete solution.  
 _"Also, I know I shouldn't say this since you haven't technically passed yet."_ Her professor said. _"But there are several groups who have extended an invitation to offer you work after you graduate. Even our university affiliate wants to have you on their team. A young twenty-two year old woman with a masters degree in ancient literature with an in-depth understanding of languages that can only be described as genius. I'm sure you're excited about this!"_  
"Ah…" Kayden said, glancing away from the phone. Why didn't she feel happy?  
 _"I should let you go for now, make sure to have your thesis sent to me by midnight tomorrow!"_ With that, the professor hung up.  
Kayden watched the screen of her phone before closing it. She stared at the written up essay, eyes focusing on the blinking of the cursor as she zoned out of the world around her. How she wished for this to be over with. She'd feel better once she got her degree and was free to do what she wanted. She hoped so at least.


	11. Lights

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Lots of fluff this chapter. Lots of fluff.

"Watch it Doc, I need that arm." Wheeljack grumbled, flinching when Ratchet’s welding hit plating that wasn't already damaged.  
"Hold still then and you can keep it." Ratchet retorted, holding down the Wrecker's arm and continuing his work.  
The Autobots circled around the injured mech who had, very eventfully, returned to Earth. Kayden stood on the floor, Miko wrapped around her arm and practically vibrating in impatience. The young girl had told Kayden all about the rogue bot and it was clear that she wanted to introduce them.   
Once Ratchet finished patching Wheeljack, Miko bolted for his feet, half dragging Kayden behind her.  
"Wheeljack!" She greeted.  
"Hey there kid." Wheeljack said with a smile. He noticed Kayden and leaned down a bit. "So who's the new one?"  
"This is Kayden!" Miko said. Kayden nodded.   
"Nice to meet you, little miss." Wheeljack said. "You must be pretty tough since the kid's so excited to introduce you."  
"She's tough enough to threaten Megatron to his face!" Miko gloated. Kayden let out a little sigh.  
Wheeljack laughed out loud. "Well I'd say you'd make a good Wrecker but I think you look a little too soft to join us." He said, poking Kayden's forehead gently.  
Ratchet smacked away his servo. "Do not drag Kayden into your Wrecker nonsense." The medic threatened.  
Wheeljack put his servos up as Optimus stepped forward. "Wheeljack, can you explain who you were chasing and how you came to be on Earth again?" Optimus asked.  
"Sure." Wheeljack said. He then told them about how he'd met with an old Wrecker only for the mech to have been killed by Dreadwing. Wheeljack had followed Dreadwing through solar cycles until they finally ended up back on Earth.   
"Dreadwing, much like his twin Skyquake, is very loyal to Megatron. Without a doubt, he intends to return to his Master." Optimus said.   
"Well I don't care who he returns to, I intend to pay him back in full for what he did." Wheeljack said, standing up.  
"Wheeljack, I understand your desire for revenge but as long as you are on Earth I need to ask that you be careful of the native life here." Optimus said, gesturing towards Miko and Kayden who still stood at his pedos.  
"Aye, aye, sir." Wheeljack said, sarcasm dripping from each syllable.   
Optimus didn't seem to take offense to what could be considered insubordination. He simply moved out of the shorter mech's way as he began to leave. Bulkhead followed after his old friend, maybe intending to chat but Optimus hoped that Bulkhead could advise his old war buddy about fighting on Earth. Wheeljack was a notable warrior but Bulkhead was far more level headed. 

It was over an hour later that Ratchet noticed Bulkhead's missing signal. Optimus was the only other one at the base aside from Jack and Rafael. Kayden sat on Optimus’s shoulder, making it easier for her to read the Cybertronian poetry he was showing her.  
"Can you locate where his signal disappeared?" Optimus asked, stepping closer. A sense of urgency was in his voice. When Bulkhead had not returned, Optimus had assumed that he had gone with Wheeljack.  
"I’ve managed to locate Wheeljack." Ratchet said.  
"Bridge me to his location." Optimus stated, already walking towards the ground bridge before Ratchet even opened it.  
Kayden gripped one of the cables around his shoulders as they went through the ground bridge. As the view of a canyon and collapsed rock came into view, Kayden began to wonder if Optimus forgot that she was still with him.   
Optimus held up his arm, scanning the rubble and finding a single life signal. He began to urgently remove the rocks from the pile, effortlessly pushing them away. Kayden braced herself, deciding to wait until Optimus was done to speak up. Finally the white metal of Wheeljack came into view.   
With most of the weight gone, Wheeljack was able to push the rest of the rocks off of him and though he was surprised to see Optimus, he still accepted his servo to help him stand. Wheeljack pushed off some smaller rocks and glanced around, noting that both Bulkhead and Dreadwing were gone.  
"What happened?" Optimus asked, taking a step back so Wheeljack could step out of the rubble.  
"Our little ambush plan… didn't exactly go as plan." Wheeljack said, not looking too concerned. "Looks like Dreadwing took Bulk."  
"Wheeljack if you do not wish to follow my orders, that is fine." Optimus said, stepping closer to Wheeljack. "But when you put one of my Autobots in danger, it is a different story."  
"Bulkhead knew the danger. We all do." Wheeljack retorted. "He chose to come. And if you’re so worried about your team, why'd you bring the little miss?"  
Optimus looked at his shoulder where Kayden was quietly sitting, legs crossed. She gave Optimus a small wave and the mech looked away and put a servo to his faceplate. He'd forgotten about her.  
"Anyway, I've got a lock on Bulkhead's location, so are you coming or not?" Wheeljack asked.  
"I am." Optimus stated. He glanced down at Kayden—she could hide in Wheeljack's ship if things became too dangerous.   
Inside the Jackhammer, Wheeljack took no time in setting off and flying towards the signal he’d caught. Optimus sat in the seat beside him, hunched over as his large frame was a bit too big for the ship. Kayden sat on the dashboard, pressed against the window as clouds and trees passed by. She'd been in an airplane multiple times but that had nothing on this. A small smile etched across her face as she watched clouds fly past.  
Behind her, Optimus was attempting to make small talk. She wasn’t listening, however, as she noticed them pass a flock of ducks. Her thesis was done, her oral exam was over. She was finally free to do as she pleased while waiting for the results. She had no intention of stressing over if she passed or not. She was stressed enough as it was. She barely heard Wheeljack say to brace themselves as the ship jerked and she went tumbling off the dashboard. Optimus quickly caught her in his servos, bringing Kayden to his chassis as he sent a small glare to Wheeljack.   
"I did say to brace yourselves." Wheeljack said with a shrug. He glanced at Kayden, noting that she didn't seem all that upset about being jostled around. She hadn't gotten annoyed when he called her soft earlier either. Maybe the little miss just wasn't the type to get angry easily. He could appreciate someone like that.

Bulkhead's signal led them to a port full of large containers. Kayden stubbornly refused to stay in the ship, climbing onto Optimus’s shoulder and refusing to budge. Optimus finally gave in if she promised to hide when he told her too.   
It didn’t take long for them to find Bulkhead, restrained to a shipping container with several bombs strapped to him. He gave them an awkward wave.  
"Hi guys." He said.  
"Man, he really got you." Wheeljack said. The mech walked up to his friend and started messing with the bombs. "I'll do something about these so hold still."  
"Sorry about this, Optimus." Bulkhead said.   
"Just be more careful next time." Optimus said, eyeing the timer. "Can you remove them."  
"Dreadwing's specialty is bombs, but I'm just as good." Wheeljack said with confidence.   
"I don’t know, Jackie. I think we need Dreadwing to remove these." Bulkhead said.  
"Like that Con would disengage his own bombs." Wheeljack retorted.  
Kayden glanced around the port. There were plenty of places to hide in an area like this. But she remembered Fowler mentioning that bombers often enjoyed watching their works from a safe distance. Her eyes stopped at the large crane positioned next to the water. A large figure stood on top of it and from the size, it wasn't human.  
"Optimus." Kayden said softly, catching his attention. "On the crane."  
Optimus glanced to his right ever so slightly, using his optics to zoom in on what Kayden had spotted. There stood Dreadwing, watching them.  
"Good catch." He said, turning his head back to the Wreckers arguing in front of him. He could leave Bulkhead to Wheeljack; he'd take care of Dreadwing.  
Quietly, Optimus turned and walked into the maze of shipping containers. He gently placed Kayden on the ground, one row from the crane but hopefully far enough away from the blast in the worst case that it happened. He didn’t know Wheeljack’s skills at disengaging bombs but he wasn’t going to risk Kayden’s safety.  
"Stay here." He instructed. Kayden gave him a single nod. Optimus put on his battle mask and brought out his blaster as he quietly snuck up to Dreadwing who seemed to have noticed his absence.  
Kayden crouched down, back against the cold metal container. There were several noises filling the port now. The sound of sea water and gulls along with the faint arguing of Bulkhead and Wheeljack. Optimus trying to convince Dreadwing to release Bulkhead. Kayden didn't like hiding out as the others risked their sparks for each other, but a part of her knew that she was useless at this time. She knew nothing about bombs and she couldn't fight. All she could do was stay out of the way.  
The sounds of fighting silenced the gulls. Kayden stood up and carefully glanced behind the container. The blaster noise wasn't far, she could see the illumination of energon fire. Heavy footsteps caused her to bounce as she spotted Bulkhead rush towards the water, shouting something about fishies. Kayden stared in surprise as Wheeljack tackled Bulkhead, stopping him from going into the water.  
She wanted to hear what they said but a loud bang caught her attention as the blaster fire vanished. Kayden clenched her fists and carefully moved out of her hiding spot to trail after Bulkhead and Wheeljack who had calmed down and seemed to have the same idea. As she hid behind the containers, Kayden spotted Optimus standing beside a dropped magnetic crane. Underneath it, Dreadwing was thoroughly trapped. The three Autobots circled the Decepticon, peering down at him.  
"Give it up, Dreadwing." Optimus said. "Disarm the bombs or we all go down with them."  
"Wait, all of us?" Bulkhead asked.  
"You heard the boss, we ain't afraid of going down together." Wheeljack said.  
"I do not fear death, I would gladly die knowing I took my brother's killer with me." Dreadwing said.   
Kayden trotted over to them, catching Bulkhead's attention first. "Woah, woah, Kayden no! Get back!" Bulkhead said, desperately, putting his hands up and waving them.  
"Kayden no, it’s too dangerous here." Optimus said, leaning down but Kayden stepped closer until Dreadwing could see her.  
The Decepticon glared at her. "What is that?" He spat.  
"The natives of this planet." Wheeljack said. "Small aren't they?"  
"You’ll let them die along with you?" Dreadwing asked with a smirk.   
"I don’t mind." Kayden said. Dreadwing flinched and stared at her, unable to read what her intentions were. "I’m a part of this team as well. I don't mind risking my life."  
"You heard the little miss, Dreadwing." Wheeljack said with a laugh. "None of us are backing down."  
Optimus and Bulkhead stared at Kayden in hesitation but turned to glare at Dreadwing when the small human didn't budge. She was serious about staying and they weren't going to let it go to waste. Dreadwing grumbled and watched as the bombs countdown decreased more and more. He had hoped they'd scare but the addition of the human solidified their resolution.   
"Fine, I'll disarm them." Dreadwing finally said in defeat.  
Bulkhead sighed in relief and Optimus ushered Kayden back as he and Wheeljack got the giant magnet off of Dreadwing. The con stood up and stepped over to Bulkhead before effortlessly deactivating the bomb. Once it was done, he transformed immediately and flew off, but not before releasing multiple explosions across the entire port. Optimus gathered Kayden up quickly as they bolted to the far end of the port. Kayden covered her ears through the explosion as Bulkbead tore the bombs off of him.  
"So, who's gonna clean this up?" Wheeljack asked, looking up at Optimus.  
Optimus sighed and glanced down at Kayden who was recording the explosions on her phone. No doubt to share with Miko once they returned to the base.

"That's totally wicked!" Miko shouted as she watched the video that Kayden had taken. "You’ve got to send it to me!"   
Kayden stood next to the younger girl and nodded. Even Jack and Raf had come to watch the fireworks she'd recorded. Wheeljack smiled at them before turning to Optimus.  
"I owe you an apology." Wheeljack said. Optimus stared at him in confusion. "I pinned ya as the type of general to hide behind his soldiers. I was wrong about that. You really stuck your neck out for Bulk."  
"You are welcome to join Team Prime." Optimus offered.  
"I wouldn't go there." Wheeljack said. "I can't sit still like this. But I'll stick around Earth for a while."  
"Then could we request your assistance if we ever need it?" Optimus asked.  
"Sure thing." Wheeljack said. He glanced back at the group of humans. "Though I think I owe the little miss an apology too."  
Kayden glanced up at Wheeljack and tilted her head to the side in confusion.   
"I said you were too soft to be a Wrecker but you were willing to take that bomb with the rest of us." Wheeljack said. "I think we can make you into a Wrecker yet."  
"Kayden's too much of a nerd to be a Wrecker." Miko joked, punching Kayden's shoulder.  
"We can fix that!" Wheeljack laughed.  
"Wait, what bomb?" Ratchet asked.  
"The one strapped to Bulk, Doc." Wheeljack said. "The little miss stood there with us when we threatened Dreadwing."  
"You let her do that?" Ratchet turned to Optimus in disbelief.  
"It was my intention to move her out of harms way if it came down to it." Optimus assured the medic. "We were by a large body of water."  
Ratchet shook his head before turning to Wheeljack. "You will not be making a Wrecker out of Kayden." He said. "Miko is one thing since she has Bulkhead but Kayden is too easily influenced and I won't let you become said influence."  
"You're such a bore, sunshine." Wheeljack said.  
"Don’t call me sunshine!" Ratchet shouted, earning a laugh from the entire team.

***

Kayden placed down a couple of letters, spelling out 'dexterity' in the game of scrabble against Jack and Raf. Raf was like Kayden, putting down complex words with high points while Jack was trailing behind with a more basic vocabulary. The teen was showing slight frustration as he ran a hand through his hair.  
"This is unfair." Jack said. "You two know way too many words."  
"At least we’re using English." Raf stated with a small laugh.   
"Yes, at least we aren't letting Kayden cheat." Jack sent a glare to the ancient literature expert who was spelling out more words with her hidden pieces.  
"I can't use most of them with an English scrabble board." Kayden reminded him.   
"Still!" Jack said. "Is phosphor even a word?"  
"It's a science term, Jack." Raf said.  
"I should never have agreed to play scrabble with a genius and someone who speaks eleven languages." Jack grumbled, crossing his arms and leaning back against the chair.  
The game was suddenly interrupted by Miko slamming her bag down and causing the board to flip. Letter pieces scattered everywhere, bouncing off of the metal platform and skittering to a stop. A couple slid off the edge while others landed on the laps of the three kids.  
"Miko!" Jack yelled, standing up.  
"Oh, oops, sorry about that!" Miko said.  
"Can’t you be more careful?" Jack asked.  
"The bag was heavy, I didn't see the game." Miko defended.   
Raf sighed, feeling irritated. Kayden began to quietly pick up the fallen pieces.  
"Miko?" Kayden asked, her voice calm. Miko looked over at Kayden. "Can you get the pieces that fell off the platform?"   
"Sure!" Miko said. She ran down the stairs, skipping steps as she went.  
"You know you can get angry at her, right?" Jack asked.  
"Why?" Kayden asked. She walked over to where other pieces had scattered.  
"I mean doesn't this annoy you?" Jack asked, wrenching the board from under Miko's bag. What did the girl put in there?  
"I don’t see a reason to get angry over this." Kayden replied. "It was an accident, no one got hurt."  
"You don’t get angry over a lot of things though." Raf pointed out. Miko came back and put the pieces into their bag. She began to help with collecting others.  
Kayden stood up, hands full of pieces and she carefully slid them into the pouch. "If I got angry over everything that annoyed me, I'd have a shorter temper than Ratchet." Kayden said. "I'd rather not."  
"But you got angry at Megatron." Jack reminded her.  
"I wasn't angry, I was livid." Kayden said, sitting back down. "And that was different."  
"How so?" Jack questioned.  
"He hurt Raf." Kayden said simply. She gave them a small smile.  
Jack and Raf stared at Kayden in surprise while Miko laughed and took a seat next to the older girl.  
"So if someone hurts us, even Megatron, you won't forgive them?" Raf asked, adjusting his glasses.   
"Nope." Kayden said.  
"I don’t think I want to see you mad." Jack said. "You were creepy last time."  
Kayden let out a soft giggle, hiding her mouth behind her hand.  
"Anyway, Miko what's in the bag?" Jack asked.  
"Projector and stuff needed for the racing game." Miko said. She stood up and pulled out a heavy looking projector.  
"You were able to get it?" Raf asked. He stood up and began to examine the projector with a large grin.  
"Of course!" Miko beamed.  
"So, racing tournament?" Jack asked.  
"You bet!" Miko said. "Kayden you in?"  
"Sorry I have plans." Kayden said, putting her hands up.  
"Oh come on, you don't have anymore schoolwork!" Miko whined. "What could possibly be more interesting than this?"  
"Optimus said he found a place he wanted to show me." Kayden said. "He said it was a surprise."  
"Oh I get it~." Miko grinned. "You two have a date!"  
Kayden tilted her head to the side.  
"Oh come on, you two have been really close from the start!" Miko said. "You like him!"  
"I do." Kayden said. "We’re friends."  
"I hope Optimus isn't as dense as you are." Miko said with a frown.  
"Am I dense?" Kayden asked Raf.  
"Usually I’d say no, but in this case, yes." Raf said.  
Kayden hummed slightly.

The kids were eventually claimed by their guardians, all but Arcee who had opted to do patrol while the others played. Ratchet let out a sigh of relief when he learned that the month's racing tournament would be held outside of the base. He was never able to work on anything with the amount of noise that event made. Even weekly movie night was better than the tournament.   
Kayden stood by the ground bridge entrance, waiting for Optimus to finish his work. Ratchet had disappeared somewhere and Kayden found herself alone in the large base. It seemed bigger and a bit spooky with no one inside of it. If the lights were dimmed, she was certain a monster would step out from behind thd corner and she'd have to fight for her life.  
Instead, Optimus appeared. He gave Kayden a simple nod in greeting and moved to the computer. Typing in a location, he set it to close after them and pulled down the lever. Walking over to Kayden, Optimus leaned down and offered his servo for her to stand on.  
"Are you ready?" Optimus asked. Kayden stepped onto his servo with practiced ease and sat down. He didn’t bring her to his shoulder like usual though and opted to carry her in his servo.  
"I am, but why do I need a swimsuit?" Kayden questioned. She adjusted the bag on her shoulders which contained the swimwear, towels, water and a change of clothes.   
"You will understand when we arrive." Optimus told her.  
They went through the ground bridge and Kayden found them along a rocky terrain. The sun was roughly in the same position and Kayden could make out mountain sides through the branches of tall trees. Optimus began to walk towards the mountains, measuring his steps carefully in case the rocks below could not carry his weight.   
It was a short walk when a large crevice in the rock came into view. It was large enough that Optimus could fit into, but so dark that Kayden couldn't make out the bottom. Optimus placed Kayden down near the crevice as he slouched down.  
"I'll let you know when to jump." Optimus stated. Kayden simply nodded and stepped back as the large mech slid into the crevice. The ground shook when he landed inside and Kayden peeked over the edge and could see Optimus's biolights illuminating the inside of the cave.  
"It is a long fall." Optimus warned Kayden. "Will you be alright?"  
"I will." Kayden said, scooting closer to the edge.  
"Then jump whenever you are ready." Optimus held out both of his servos. He expected Kayden to hesitate a bit but when a few small rocks fell, so did the girl. She hadn't even hesitated to consider the jump and simply did. Optimus stepped forward, his aim a bit off as he easily caught Kayden in both servos.  
Optimus brought her close, noting that she was awkwardly sprawled onto her back, facing him and with a small smile on her face. "Are you alright?" Optimus asked.  
Kayden sat up and ran a hand through her hair. Letting it fall back over her shoulder. "That was fun." Kayden exclaimed.  
Optimus let out a small ex-vent and turned around. Turning on his headlights, he illuminated what appeared to be a labyrinth of caves, deep underground. Kayden turned to face them and glanced around.  
"I discovered this place not long after I arrived to Earth." Optimus said.  
He began to walk forward, following a path with little hesitation. He knew which way to go, he'd taken this path before and he wouldn't forget it, even if he wanted to.   
Bats littered the ceiling and Optimus made sure that his lights would not disturb them. It was far too early for the nocturnal creatures to awaken and he doubted Kayden would appreciate being swarmed by them. Said girl was sitting still, legs crossed and eyes focused ahead of them.   
Optimus was certain that she was eager to know what he had wanted to surprise her with. He knew that they didn't have much time together with the Iacon Relics but Kayden had shown him one of her favorite places, and he wanted to return the favor.   
As the exit of the tunnel came into view, the cave got brighter. The tunnel opened up into an opening that was illuminated by sunlight that shown through broken rock above them. Optimus turned his headlights off and let Kayden down.  
A small bit of ground was all they had in the opening. The rest was water from a subterranean lake that glowed a blue-green under the sunlight. Kayden ran up to the edge of the lake and gently placed her hand into the cool water. She stood up and moved across the edge with a smile, twirling slightly as she took in the view.  
"Optimus this is amazing!" Kayden said, looking back at her friend.  
"This is just the beginning." Optimus said. He knelt down and took an air tank and scuba diving gear from his subspace. "You mentioned that you can dive, correct?"  
"I can." Kayden said, walking over to the gear. Did Agent Fowler get it for him?  
"I have done some research and for a place like this, you’d need to dive underwater…" Optimus said. He sheepishly looked down at Kayden, wondering if this was too much.  
"Now I'm curious." Kayden said, hiding a smile behind her hands.  
Optimus felt his spark leap at her excited tone. Kayden took off her backpack and trotted behind Optimus to change into the bathing suit. Optimus was about to question her behavior but then remembered how June Darby mentioned that humans disliked showing bare skin in public.  
Kayden came out wearing a sporty bathing suit with a cropped tank and short-shorts. Her boots were laced together and placed next to her bag. Optimus stared curiously. June had said that humans didn't like revealing clothes so why was Kayden doing so now? Kayden noticed his stare and tilted her head to the side in curiosity.   
"I thought humans avoided showing skin." He said.  
"In general but swimsuits are different." Kayden said. "Wet clothes feel gross so we wear these."  
"I see, so you have armor specifically for going into the water." Optimus hummed.  
“That’s a way to look at it.” Kayden confirmed.   
Carefully Kayden began to set up the scuba set, securing the air tube, buckling the tank to her back and making sure each accessory was safely in reach. The set came with the compass and extra air tube like she expected it too. Kayden slid on a pair of fins and dipped the goggles into the water before she placed them onto her forehead. Optimus watched the process in fascination. Humans always seemed to invent odd ways of going places they normally wouldn’t but this set up didn’t seem to be enough for the kind of diving he had been informed of. Kayden turned towards him, standing proud and eager in her little get up. Optimus crouched at the edge of the lake and turned to her.  
“I will go down first. Don’t follow until the bubbles stop.” He instructed. Kayden waved him off and stood back as Optimus swiftly sunk into the water. A surge was created as he dropped in, pushing water inches up Kayden’s legs and causing her to nearly stumble. It receded quickly, disappearing into the swirl of foam and bubbles.  
Kayden awkwardly walked towards the edge and peered into the depths of the lake. She could easily make out Optimus’s mass under the water and was surprised at how deep it really was. Once the bubbles settled, Kayden jumped into the lake as well, sinking at a much slower pace than her large companion.  
Optimus stood on the bottom of the lake and kept his optics on the surface. As the water became calm, it was immediately disturbed again by a much smaller force. Kayden’s dive wasn’t nearly as strong as his but he watched in amazement as she twisted her body and began to slowly descend. With simple kicks of her legs, she was easily able to reach him face to face. Kayden floated around him a bit, hair flowing in the water and bubbles emerging from her breathing tube. As strange as this seemed, Optimus felt that it almost seemed natural for Kayden to be floating around him.  
Kayden took a look around the lake, doing her best to resist the urge to swim around. The lake was deep enough for Optimus to stand in and very clear. Small fish swam around them, uneven edges giving them hiding places and Kayden wondered if the lake was attached to anything else. She swam around Optimus’s head for a bit, until he pointed above them. Kayden looked up and he eyes widened at what she saw.  
The sun falling onto the surface water caused lights to dance above them. It sparkled like crystals and glistened as the surface subtly moved. She swam up a bit, reaching out as she noticed how deep the rays penetrated the waters.  
Behind her, Optimus continued to watch Kayden swim, taking in each movement she made. Her face was obscured by her mask but he was certain she was smiling. She swam around the spot happily, moving with a grace that no Cybertronian could ever hope to mimic. Human bodies were much more limber and Kayden proved now exactly how much so. Under the water, he was slowed by the pressure and couldn’t move properly, but Kayden, she seemed to be barely affected.  
Kayden swam up to Optimus, swimming close to his face with excitement in her kick. She removed her oxygen tube, causing Optimus to flinch as she gave him the biggest and sweetest smile he’d ever seen the girl wear. He froze at the expression, forgetting about her cutting off her own oxygen and just staring. Kayden tilted her head to the side and carefully patted his cheek as she placed the tube back into her mouth. Optimus shook out of his daydream and gave her a smile back.  
For the next thirty minutes, Optimus watched as Kayden explored the lake but noted that she never sunk too far and never went back up to the surface. She followed after fish and showed him various acrobatics she could do underwater before she noted that her oxygen was getting low. Optimus pointed at her and told her to rise first. Kayden gave him a nod and slowly began to surface, much slower than Optimus has thought she would. Once he was certain that she was out of the water, he began to climb up the edge to get to the surface.  
“Why did you take your time in surfacing?” Optimus asked. He sat down on the edge, emptying water from places it had pooled.  
Kayden gently placed the tank down, kicking off her fins as she dropped the goggles. “Surfacing too quickly is dangerous.” Kayden said. “Our blood vessels expand and that can kill us.”  
“Even though you can dive quickly?” Optimus pondered.  
“We dive for a certain depth and slowly decline the rest.” Kayden said. She wrung out her hair before grabbing her towel and beginning to dry off. “That was amazing.”  
“I am happy that you enjoyed it.” Optimus said. He watched as Kayden focused a lot on drying her hair, noting that even when she was done that it wasn’t completely dry.  
“This was a lot of fun.” Kayden admitted, walking over to Optimus and sitting down. She had a water bottle in her hand and she slipped a couple of times trying to open it.  
“Your bodies of water were a strange concept to me when I first arrived on Earth.” Optimus said. “I did not understand how it worked and learned quickly that my kind could not function properly when submerged.”  
“Too much restriction?” Kayden asked, looking up at him.  
“Yes, just trying to climb out of the lake is difficult.” Optimus said, glancing down at her.  
Kayden still wore her bathing suit but her hair was slicked back, completely showing her face. Her green eyes seemed brighter than usual and he noticed that Kayden seemed less tired. A side effect of her thesis being done? He wasn’t certain, but he hoped that she continued to be happier. He hadn’t liked the amount of stress she had been under lately, especially since he hadn’t been able to aid her.  
Kayden let out a yawn as she stretched out her limbs. Her body trembled slightly as she began to feel the after effects of the dive.  
“Are you tired?” Optimus asked.  
“Diving gives you a unique sense of lethargy.” Kayden said, stifling another yawn.  
“We should finish for today then.” Optimus said as he stood up.   
“Already?” Kayden asked, looking up at him.  
Optimus looked down at Kayden and back up to the cave ceiling where the sun was still high above them. He had informed Ratchet that he’d be gone all day and it was barely past noon. He glanced back at Kayden, catching a glimpse of bare skin he probably shouldn’t have and turned away like a proper gentleman. He proceeded to put away the diving gear until Kayden came to stand by his pedo.  
“We are only a few hours from Jasper.” Optimus admitted. “We could take the long way back.”  
“I’d like that.” Kayden said, giving Optimus a warm smile.  
Optimus nodded and leaned down to offer Kayden his servo. She carefully stepped onto him and sat down as he stood up, bringing her to his chassis. “We will need to walk to the exit first.” He said, returning down the path they came.  
The path to the exit was longer than the path from the entrance to the lake. It was dark and winding but Optimus managed to stay on path and only had to duck a couple of times. Along the way, they found a large chunk of quartz, a dull blue that barely sparkled but it stood as tall as Kayden. He looked down at it and easily dislodged it from the ground.  
“A souvenir of our trip?” He offered, making Kayden giggle as he stored it into his subspace.   
Once they were out of the cave system, Optimus walked them off of the mountain side until they were at an old dirt road. Placing Kayden down, Optimus stepped away and transformed into his alt mode. He opened his passenger door for Kayden and noted how she was a bit sluggish in climbing up. Once she was settled down, Optimus began the long drive back to Jasper.  
Along the way, they discussed whatever came to mind that they hadn’t been able to in the last week. Kayden explained more about how her university system worked and Optimus explained the intricates of the Iacon Hall of Records. The systems were similar in some places but vastly different in others. For one, nearly anyone could enter a university on Earth but only those chosen could go to Iacon. Eventually the conversation turned into a Cybertronian word game that became far more competitive than either of them had imagined. By the time they had entered the deserts of Nevada, Kayden was asleep and the sun was setting.  
Two hours later, they arrived at the base. Optimus drove inside but stopped right after the doors closed behind him. He quieted his engines and used his mirrors to peak at Kayden who was sound asleep. He didn’t want to wake her up, but it wasn’t exactly safe transforming with her inside of him. He didn’t have a space compartment in his chassis like Bulkhead did.  
“Kayden, we have arrived.” Optimus said gently, but loud enough for Kayden to hear.  
The girl stirred, sitting up and rubbing at her eyes as she became aware of her surroundings slowly. She let out a large yawn and quietly stepped out of Optimus’s cab. Optimus transformed and picked up the swaying human, gently placing her on his shoulder. She was still up but he could tell that she was about to fall back into recharge at any moment.  
Taking out the large quartz, Optimus walked back to the main room of the base as silently as he could. The moment he entered the room, he was greeted by his team and Agent Fowler who looked at him with concern. Optimus stopped and turned to them slowly.  
“Optimus?” Arcee asked hesitantly.  
“Is something the matter?” Optimus asked.  
“Where have you been?” Ratchet questioned.  
Optimus placed the large quartz down on a table and turned towards his team. “I was exploring a subterranean lake several miles from here.” He explained. “I took Kayden with me.”  
Kayden looked up and gave out a weak wave when she heard her name. A sigh seemed to emanate from the group in response. Kayden and Optimus glanced at each other before turning back to the team.  
“We’ve seen you, well I guess you can’t call it you, but a version of you that nearly drove Fowler off the road.” Bulkhead said.  
“I almost saw the star spangle flash before my eyes and it looked like you doing it.” Agent Fowler said.  
“Agent Fowler I can assure you that this, double, was not me.” Optimus said. “However it is concerning to think that something like that is out there.”  
“Since we know that this one isn’t Optimus, we should focus on finding the fake.” Ratchet said.   
“We’ll increase patrols, maybe we can set a trap for it.” Arcee suggested. Bee let out a few whirls.  
“We will proceed with this task tomorrow.” Optimus said. “I want to ensure that the children do not get mixed up in this like Agent Fowler.”  
The Autobots agreed and slowly dispersed, returning to patrol or to their habsuite to recharge. Optimus helped Kayden down to the couch where she fell asleep almost instantly. He couldn’t help but smile fondly before turning his attention to Ratchet who had been watching him the entire time.  
“I apologize for that.” Ratchet said. “But after what happened with Unicron…”  
“It is alright, Old Friend.” Optimus said, placing his hand on Ratchet’s shoulder. “You were right to be wary. But this time it is not me causing problems.”  
“Which is concerning considering this threat looks exactly like you.” Ratchet scoffed.  
“That is true.” Optimus agreed.  
Ratchet glanced between Optimus and the sleeping Kayden. He stared at the quartz for a second before turning back to Optimus.  
“I’m hoping you at least enjoyed your time off.” Ratchet pondered.  
“I did.” Optimus stated, glancing back at Kayden.  
“It seems Kayden is better for you than I thought.” Ratchet said, turning back to the computer.   
“What do you mean?” Optimus asked. He moved to stand by Ratchet.  
“She gets your mind off of the war, reminds you about life outside of this base.” Ratchet stated. He turned to Optimus and stared into his optics. “Don’t let go of her.”  
Optimus stared at his old friend, but his optics flicked to Kayden every now and then. He remained silent at Ratchet’s words.


	12. Silent Scream

Kayden clenched the envelope in her hands. It was creased now, crunched from her constant gripping. The bright blue logo of her college stood out at the corner while a sticker with her name was placed in the center. The letters seemed to mock her as her gut twisted and wrenched in anxiety.   
It was here. The results of the last four years of her life were finally there and she wasn’t ready. The fate of her future would be decided by whatever was written in this envelope and if it was bad… well her stomach was already preparing for that.   
Raf eyed Kayden as Bulkhead explained to Miko what happened with Nemisis Prime and the possible death of Silas. Agent Fowler was disgruntled over the missing man but the Autobots were certain that they wouldn't be disturbed by MECH anytime soon. Raf took one quick look back at the group before quietly walking up to Kayden, stopping at her feet.  
"Kayden, are you alright?" Raf asked. He stood to her side, eyeing the envelope she looked ready to tear apart. He recognized the logo on the corner. "Are those your college results?"  
This caught the attention of Jack, Miko and Fowler who stopped their discussion and turned to Kayden. Kayden stiffened slightly and loosened her grip on the envelope. She smoothed it out and gave them a nod.  
"What does it say?" Miko asked. She bounced over to Kayden.  
"I haven't opened it yet." Kayden admitted.  
"Well what are you waiting for?" Jack asked.   
Kayden muttered slightly. She really wasn't ready to face reality.  
"Are you afraid you failed?" Raf asked.  
Agent Fowler stepped up and took the envelope out of Kayden's hands. "Kayden you are one of the last people who needs to worry about failing." He said, smoothing out the envelope and opening it.  
The kids leaned closer as Fowler pulled out an official looking piece of paper and cleared his throats. "In regards to Kayden Fort, it is my honor to announce that your thesis has been accepted and that you have received your Masters." He said.  
"Is that really what it says?" Jack asked.  
"Well not word for word but that gives you the gist of it." Agent Fowler said. He handed the paper to Kayden and smiled. "Congratulations."  
Kayden read the letter and felt tears swell up on her eyes. Miko screamed and jumped on Kayden in a hug but ended up koala hugging her when she didn't fall over. The scream gathered the attention of the Autobots who gave them a quizzical look.  
"You did it! You did it!" Miko cheered. She jumped off and gently pounded against Kayden's arm.  
"Congrats." Jack said awkwardly.  
"Yeah, congratulations!" Raf said, beaming a smile up at her.  
"What happened?" Arcee asked.  
"Kayden passed her university courses. She has officially gotten her masters degree." Agent Fowler explained.  
"That's amazing!" Bulkhead exclaimed.  
"Congratulations." Optimus said. The other bots agreed and Kayden felt her cheeks flush. So many people being happy for her was different.   
"Are you going to have a ceremony?" Fowler asked. Kayden shook her head.  
"I need to go back to my university though." She said.  
"Get your stuff and say your good byes." Fowler asked. Kayden nodded this time.  
"It will take an entire day so I'll leave tomorrow." Kayden said. She pulled out her phone.  
"You can use the ground bridge." Optimus offered.  
"Oh! Optimus why don't you take her?" Miko suggested. The others questioned her. "She needs help carrying her stuff!"  
Optimus leaned down to talk to Kayden. "Would that be alright with you?" He asked.  
"It would." Kayden said. She didn't noticd the grin that Miko was giving them.

The next morning, Optimus and Kayden left the base through the ground bridge and appeared in the back alley of her large university campus. There were students walking around but no one noticed the semi-truck. Kayden eyed the university with a wary eye. She never liked going to the school after a certain point. Independent research was much more her comfort zone.  
"Where should I park?" Optimus asked.  
Kayden leaned forward and pointed at a side building. "On the curb over there." She said. "That’s my building."  
Optimus slowly moved towards the curb and parked in the most polite way a semi-truck could. Kayden unbuckled and gathered up her bag before looking up at Optimus.   
"I'll try not to take too long." Kayden promised.  
"Take all of the time you need." Optimus assured her. Kayden nodded and climbed out of the truck.  
Inside she found the facility to be much more lively than normal. Students who had graduated had gathered to talk to professors and faculty members. Most were beaming with pride and chatting up while others were making phone calls. Kayden stuck to the wall and was about to sneak off when she felt someone grab the hood of her jacket and stop her. She turned around to find Professor Dawn grinning down at her.  
"Well good to see you actually came here." Dawn joked. "I thought I'd have to mail your certificate."  
"I still have stuff here." Kayden said, looking down at the ground.  
"And a good thing you do!" Dawn laughed. She began to drag Kayden away from the crowd of people.  
They passed through several halls and rooms that were livelier now than any other time of the year. Despite rarely walking through them, a sense of nostalgia began to fill her. She was given congratulations by people she didn't recognize and students gave her thumbs up. She felt awkward returning the gestures and let her professor push her into the lab she'd spent much of her college time in.  
Kayden went to the long black top table she'd claimed as her own. In a fancy black frame was her certificate confirming her master's degree, embossed in gold was a stamp of the scholar association. Kayden traced her fingers over the thin glass, tracing her name. Pride swelled in her chest, her voice choked in her throat and she rubbed away the tears from her eyes.  
"So even Kayden Fort can feel happy over graduating." Dawn said, placing a cup of coffee before Kayden. Kayden looked up at her professor.  
"What does that mean?" Kayden asked.  
"You were my most confusing student." Dawn said. "I could never figure out if you really wanted to be here but you produced the best work."  
Kayden sipped at the coffee, noticing that it had been filled with sugar and creamer, just how she liked it.  
"Maybe I'm just bad at reading people." Dawn began. "But I know you take pride in this work. Your thesis showed how deep you can think and we are all proud to have a scholar like you amongst us."  
"Thank you." Kayden said, wrapping her hands around the mug just a bit tighter.  
Dawn smiled and patted Kayden's back. "You seem to have changed a bit." Dawn noted. "Did something happen in Nevada?"  
"I… made some good friends." Kayden said. She glanced out the window of the lab and saw Optimus’s red form.  
"It's going to be tough leaving them." Dawn said with a sigh. She stood up and walked over to her desk. Kayden’ eyes followed her, very confused. "You're going to have to choose a job soon and the best are in big cities."  
Dawn pulled out a pile of letters, kept together by two rubber bands. She placed them down next to Kayden and looked up at her.  
"These are from universities, museums and archeology sites from across the country and over seas. They all requested you to work for them." Dawn said. Kayden carefully picked up the pile and skimmed through the names. She recognized several of them.  
"Why did I get so much?" Kayden asked. "I never associated with anyone."  
"Kayden your thesis rewrote how we understand translations. Scholars from around the world will be translating their findings all over again because of it." Dawn said. Her tone and voice were much morr serious than normal. "You've become an authority figure for translating ancient literature."  
Kayden looked down at the envelopes and swallowed a lump she hadn’t realized had formed in her throat. Dawn noticed her expression and put a reassuring hand on Kayden's shoulder.  
"Why not hide out here and go through them?" Dawn suggested. She walked towards the door. "I’ll make sure you aren't disturbed."  
Kayden barely nodded as she sat down properly in her chair. She took off the rubber bands and began to shuffle through them. The jobs were within the range of what she expected from the profession. Translating for archeology digs on commission, working at museums as an authenticator, assisting universities. She read over each one carefully, reading what she'd be doing, where she'd have to work. None would let her stay in Nevada. And none were letting her feel that spark she'd felt when she first started. Instead, the jobs made her feel numb and a part of her wondered if it was because she was tired.  
Kayden rubbed her eyes and gathered up the letters together, placing them back into their respective envelopes. Under the table was a box full of her left behind belongings, packed up by Dawn most likely. She placed the envelopes inside and gently placed her certificate on top before closing the box up and sighing. Kayden leaned against the box and looked up at Optimus who was sitting patiently. She noted how people were gawking at him and smiled to herself when thinking about how Optimus viewed all of this.  
With the box closed, Kayden lifted it up and began her trek back to the main room. She recounted each job and her thoughts brought up different situations for each. Getting stuck in the backroom of a museum logging translations, assisting a professor for a classroom of dead eyed students or knee deep in dirt trying to read weather damaged ruins in a country most people don't know exists. The last one felt the most exciting in all honesty. But a part of her just didn't want to do it. She didn't want to take on the jobs because the idea of doing the work, it was just too much. Sleepless nights, papers and reports she could barely get the energy to write. Since when had all of this become a chore? This was supposed to be her dream, she ran away from home just to learn about Ancient Literature in depth. All of this hard work… was it for nothing?  
"Leaving already Kayden?" Dawn asked, successfully interrupting her thoughts.  
Kayden gave her a nod but stopped walking as Dawn approached. The students behind her were peeking at Kayden in curiosity and Kayden noted that they seemed to be younger. Maybe first years?  
"Have you made your choice yet?" Dawn asked.   
"No… I want to think about it." Kayden said. She felt like she was lying about this.  
"That makes sense, just make sure to let the others know who you went with." Dawn reminded her. Kayden let out a little groan that made the professor laugh. "Alright out with you! I can't wait to see where you go!"  
Kayden gave her professor a nod before turning and heading towards the door.  
The crowd hadn't thinned much but she managed to get to the door by sticking to the side walls. Pushing the exit open with her shoulder, Kayden was met with the cool DC air and shivered. She had forgotten that it was October and that the season had changed.   
Optimus opened his door for Kayden as she walked up. She put the box down and forcefully slid it across his seat until there was room for her to climb in. She closed the door and tugged at the buckle.  
"Are you done already?" Optimus asked.  
"There wasn't much to do." Kayden admitted. "My professor packed my box."  
"You have a kind professor." Optimus noted. When the man in front of him crossed over, he began to drive out of the parking lot.  
"She was nice." Kayden said.  
"Is something the matter?" Optimus asked. He had expected Kayden to be happy to have graduated. She had wanted this and worked so hard, but instead she seemed lethargic.  
"I just need time to think about things." Kayden admitted.  
"Then take the time you need." Optimus assured her. "Did you grow up here?"  
"No, my home town is in Virginia." Kayden said. "I lived in a town that was surrounded by woods."  
"This seems very different from that." Optimus pondered. "Do you miss it?"  
"I do." Kayden admitted. "Living on an old farm… I'd like to do that again."  
They stayed silent as Optimus drove around the city. He seemed to be driving aimlessly and hadn't contacted Ratchet about a ground bridge back to Jasper. She watched cars pass them and noticed the monuments in the distance. A school bus of kids got Optimus to honk for them.  
"Do you intend to leave?" Optimus asked hesitantly. Kayden gave him a quizzical look. "Agent Fowler informed me that once you graduate you will need to find a job. Your jobs would be location specific."  
"That’s true." Kayden said. She put her hands on her lap and dug her nails into her arm.  
"With Megatron, it would be dangerous for you to be apart from us." Optimus began. "But I will not stop you."  
The cab fell silent as Kayden looked down at her hands. He was fine with her leaving. He was okay with her leaving the team. Why did that hurt? Why did that make her want to scream?  
"Kayden?" Optimus asked, worried he had offended the girl.  
"I haven’t made any decisions yet." Kayden said, leaning against the seat.  
"Of course." Optimus said.

The two drove around for another thirty minutes before Optimus pulled into an alley. A ground bridge opened in front of them and he slowly drove through it. The base was dark when they arrived, no lights, even from Ratchet’s computer screen. Kayden climbed out of Optimus, box in hand and she could hear him transform. The moment he did so, the lights flicked on, noise was blasted, confetti thrown and Miko strung a chord as she screamed congratulations to Kayden.  
The girl looked around, stunned as the base had been decorated with a banner, balloons and party favors. Agent Fowler and June were standing at the platform as the three kids gathered around Kayden with wide grins. Even the Autobots seemed wound up and in the party mood.  
"This is?" Kayden asked.   
"Your graduation party!" Miko shouted.  
"You said you weren't having a ceremony so we thought you'd want a party! Raf said. "Is this too much?"  
Kayden looked between all of them and shook her head. A warm and fuzzy feeling swelled in her chest as she smiled at the kids. "No, this is great." She said.   
The three of them beamed and Raf and Miko gave her a hug while Jack offered to take her box. "What's in this?" Jack asked when his arms dropped. He adjusted his grip until he was finally able to leave the box by the stairs.  
"Books, rock tablets, my masters certificate and my job offers." Kayden named off, letting Miko push her up the stairs.  
"Jack, bring up those job offers." Agent Fowler said. "I want to look at where our Kayden is wanted."  
Jack looked at Kayden hesitantly but Kayden just nodded. This was a party for her that they'd obviously planned and she wasnt going to ruin it. "They are in the envelopes." She told Jack who pulled them out.  
"You got a lot." The boy noticed, following them up the stairs. He handed them off to Agent Fowler as they all took a seat at the table.  
For the next several hours, the group played music and had singing competitions. Miko showed Kayden how to play a few strings on the guitar and they played dance songs with the Autobots as the judges. Bumblebee joined in as Arcee and Bulkhead clapped along. A large racing game was projected on the base wall and ping pong became more competitive than anything else. They played hide and seek throughout the base and the five pizzas were gone within minutes.   
Kayden now leaned against the railing of the platform, watching the kids play a mock game of four square as she took a break. Ratchet was even watching along with the others now as Optimus stood beside Kayden. Fowler and June walked up to Kayden and handed her the job offers back.  
"You've got a lot of good jobs lined up." Fowler said. "Some of those archeology sites are receiving international coverage."  
Kayden nodded and stared at the symbol of a college in Florida. She frowned at it.  
"But all of these offers are far away." June said. "Are you really planning to leave Jasper?"  
"What!? Kayden can't leave!" Miko shouted. She looked up at Kayden in disbelief. "You can’t leave Team Prime!"   
"Miko that's for Kayden to decide." Jack said.  
"I dont care! She can't leave!" Miko shouted, stomping her foot in defiance.   
Bulkhead began to try to calm her down as June let out a sigh.  
"Miko stop being childish." June said. "It’s Kayden's responsibility to choose a job."  
"My what?" Kayden asked, turning to June.  
"Kayden, you've graduated college, you've gotten your degree. It’s time to get a job." June said. "And based on those letters, you've got some great opportunities. This is what you need to do."  
She needed to get a job? She had to do this?  
"What is with that look?" June asked. "Why do you look so confused? You owe it to these people to follow through with taking on a job. This is your responsibility."  
"That isn’t why I studied so hard!" Kayden shouted. Something inside her snapped.  
The room froze, going silent in an instant. No one had heard Kayden raise her voice and it caused them all to flinch.  
"What do you mean that isn’t why you studied?" June asked, narrowing her eyes.  
"I just wanted to learn, I didn't care about a job…" Kayden said, looking at the ground.  
"That’s just wasting your time!" June said. "Kayden you aren't a child!"  
"Don't tell me what I already know!" Kayden shouted.   
"What?" June asked, her frustration drooping.  
Kayden ran a hand through her hair, frustration twisting at her stomach. She tried to calm her breathing but she couldn’t. She gripped at her hair and looked up at them with a frustrated and desperate expression.  
"I spent all that time on my school work and now I hate doing what I used to love." She said, biting back tears. "I failed."  
Kayden looked away and pushed past the two adults. She quickly descended the stairs and disappeared through the hallways of the base. Everyone watched her go and looked between each other. They needed to say something, they needed to cheer Kayden up… but they honestly had no idea how. Optimus began to go after Kayden, but Fowler stopped him.  
"Prime, I think I should handle this." Fowler said. "I think Kayden needs someone who understands her position better."  
Optimus stared down at Fowler before nodding and moving back. "Please take care of her." He said. Fowler gave him a quick nod before chasing after Kayden.  
He found her several halls down, curled up in a ball in a corner, shoulders shaking. She was crying and Fowler knew that Kayden was the type to hate people seeing her cry. But he couldn’t just leave her be, not after what she had said. Deep down he’d always felt that Kayden was putting too much pressure on herself. She was being too independent, she wasn’t good at asking for help. She was an open minded person but she had herself set on a narrow path and taking a step off meant failure. And now that path was a dead end and she didn’t know what to do.  
“Mind if I take a seat?” Fowler asked, his voice a bit softer than usual. He could see Kayden stiffen and after a few seconds, she slowly nodded her head.  
He sat down next to her, giving her enough space and letting out a small grunt. Resting his arm on a lifted knee, Fowler looked up at the high ceilings of the base. He was used to pep talking soldiers but Nurse Darby had been too harsh on Kayden earlier and he had a feeling that the bots wouldn’t understand what Kayden was going through.  
“You grew up always having to meet someone's expectations didn’t you?” Fowler asked. Kayden gave him a small nod and the agent wondered if she would actually talk to him. “A strict parent where nothing was good enough. Even if you did everything perfectly it still wouldn’t be good enough. I get that.”  
Kayden glanced up at Fowler and he noted her red and puffy eyes and the tears that stained her cheeks. She just graduated college, just got a masters degree. Kayden should be laughing, not crying in frustration. Fowler gave her a weak smile.  
“Kayden, why do you think you failed?” Fowler asked.  
Kayden stayed silent before placing her chin on her folded arms. “I went against my father and got a scholarship for a university he didn’t want me to go to. I went down the path I wanted to. But in the end it wasn’t good enough.” Kayden said, catching a hitch in her throat as she felt like crying again. “I don’t want to make a career out of all of this…”  
“Then don’t.” Agent Fowler told her bluntly. For the first time since they met, Fowler finally saw Kayden truly surprised. “Why do you have to make a career out of your degree?”  
“But I put in all that work…” Kayden said.  
“True, and you realized afterwards that it wasn’t for you.” Fowler said. “So now you take your next step.”  
Kayden still stared at him perplexed and Fowler sighed.  
“Kayden Fort you are twenty two years old, you are barely old enough to drink and your life isn’t over because you got one degree and decided to change your mind.” Fowler said. “You are an incredibly intelligent person, can speak more languages than anyone I know and you have this innate ability to stay calm no matter what this world throws at you.  
“You stepped up to the plate to aid the Autobots when this has nothing to do with you, you threatened Megatron to his face, traveled to Cybertron to save Prime and you were ready to take a bomb for the team.” Fowler continued. “Kayden you are going to make something out of yourself one day but that day doesn’t have to be today. You have your entire life ahead of you and nobody will blame you if you just step back and let life pass by for a bit. Take a break, take a breather. Think about what you really want to be doing right now.”  
Kayden felt her lip quiver as Fowler finished his speech and when he gave her a reassuring smile, she couldn’t help but lay her head on his shoulder and cry out for the second time that evening. Fowler was caught off guard by this but gently patted her back. No one had ever told her any of this, he was certain of that.   
Fowler let Kayden finish her crying and she sat up, as red faced and puffy eyed as before but her tears had dried. She sniffled a bit, wiping her face more as Fowler stood up and offered his hand. Kayden took it, balancing on the back of her feet as she stood.  
“Do you feel better now?” Fowler asked, giving her a sideways smile.  
“Thank you.” Kayden said with a nod, her voice soft and bit cracked from the crying.  
“Anytime.” Fowler said, placing a hand on the girl’s shoulder. Kayden looked up at him and her eyes were focused and he noted a bit of a flame burning through them. “You came to a decision already?”  
“I did.” Kayden said.

When the two returned, everyone was talking amongst themselves but the party displays were still up. Everything looked a bit sad since Kayden’s shouting. Miko noticed Kayden first, nearly flying down the stairs and grabbing the girl’s hands. She looked concerned, taking note of Kayden’s red face and stained cheeks.  
“Kayden are you okay?” Miko asked, giving her hands a squeeze.  
Kayden held back and nodded. “I’m fine. I’m sorry for ruining the party.” She said softly.  
“Don’t be worries about that!” Miko scowled. “I mean I should’ve noticed that you weren’t really down for something like this.”  
“We all should’ve.” Jack added, coming up behind Miko with Raf. His mother stayed by the stairs while the bots gathered around.  
“I was having fun, I’m happy you threw it.” Kayden assured them. “I guess I just was at my limit.”  
“No, I pushed you past that limit.” June said. “I apologize for that. I shouldn’t have spoken about it like I knew everything about you.”  
Kayden gave the woman a nod. She wanted to say thank you but she felt a twinge of a grudge settle in her stomach that she wasn’t quite ready to dismiss yet. Optimus kneeled down, hovering over the kids so that he could speak to Kayden easily.  
“Kayden, why did you not tell us that you were struggling with this?” He asked. Deep down he felt hurt that she hadn’t consulted him about it. He wanted her to trust him enough to share such anxieties with him.  
“I didn’t really understand how I was feeling. I thought it was stress and anxiety over the thesis.” Kayden said, “I didn’t think that I was losing interest in all of it.”  
“What do you plan to do?” Bulkhead asked. “You guys can choose what you want to do, right?”  
Kayden gave him a nod and looked back up at Optimus. “I won’t take on any jobs and I’ll stay here in Jasper.” Kayden said, earning a cheer from Miko. “I want to focus on helping Team Prime with ending this war.”  
“Kayden I appreciate the sentiment but-“ Optimus began.  
“Optimus I told you when we first met that this war was mine just as much as it was yours. Megatron is threatening our planet, Earth and Cybertron obviously have connections together.” Kayden said. “By this society, I’m an adult and as an adult I’m making the decision that this war is more important than anything else. I can continue my life when it’s done, but I need to make sure I have a planet to continue that life on.”  
Optimus was stunned by Kayden’s words and he could tell his Autobots were just as taken back. Had Kayden been a Cybertronian, he’d take up her offer in a spark beat. But she was human, small, weak and easily killed. But hadn’t she gone through more fights and problems that other Autobots had perished from. Humans were flexible and creative and she had the level headed personality to take on what this war would put her through. He let out a heavy ex-vent and stared at Kayden, optic to eye.  
“How do you intend to aid us?” He asked.  
“I can make her an official agent.” Agent Fowler suggested. “Give her government clearance and give her authority over certain things such as clearing facilities of civilians.”  
“That would be useful, we wouldn’t have to wait for agent Fowler to be available since Kayden would always be here.” Arcee said, remembering the few times they needed   
him and he was out.  
“Kayden’s knowledge of Earth cultures and languages could be useful when locating the remaining Iacon Relics.” Ratchet noted. “It’s entirely possible that humans have uncovered them like with the energon extractor.”  
Optimus hummed as he went over the different points of views. He honestly had no issues with Kayden aiding them, she’d been a great help on several occasions and he owed her a lot after she went to Cybertron for him. But he didn’t want to have her waste her life for a war that should never have affected her in the first place. The children still had their school work and parental figures but Kayden didn’t. She could choose what to do, and she was choosing to help them instead of anything else.   
“Alright, I will accept your offer.” Optimus said, standing up.   
The humans cheered and hugged Kayden while Agent Fowler gave Optimus an appreciative nod. Optimus smiled softly at the group as Miko tried to restart the party over again with more music. He stepped back to stand by Ratchet as Miko pushed a microphone at Kayden.  
“Are you really okay with this?” Ratchet asked.  
“It’s better that Kayden is happy.” Optimus said.  
“Just admit that you’re relieved that she isn’t leaving us.” Ratchet scoffed.  
“I believe I would feel down if any of them decides to leave.” Optimus stated.  
“You’re a dense fool sometimes Optimus, a dense fool.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two of the most intelligent beings in the universe are also two of the densest.


	13. Relics

"So this is your badge, handcuffs and your gun." Agent Fowler said. He placed the items down in front of Kayden who eyed each one. The badge was what you'd expect for a person of authority, black leather with a gold badge and a license like identity card. On it was a portrait photo of Kayden that had been taken in the base itself. Her rank was Special Agent just like Fowler but she lacked the symbols representing military status. Kayden folded it up, placing it into her back pocket. The handcuffs seemed pretty standard, metal and stiff. She picked them up and eyed Agent Fowler with a questioning stare.  
"Your status gives you the right to arrest people." Fowler explained. "But only if the reasoning is justified."stuff.  
"Isn't she supposed to take some special classes for all of this?" Jack asked as Kayden picked up the gun. It was a pistol, bigger than what a normal police officer should be carrying. The safety was on but it was loaded.  
"Technically yes but Kayden is aware of a very delicate situation and so she was granted these powers with a great deal of strictness." Fowler said. "Usage of your ID, handcuffs and gun can only be used for issues relating to the Autobots. You may not use them for anything else."  
"Sounds fair." Kayden said. She turned off the safety of the gun but Agent Fowler immediately clicked it back on.  
"Let's wait till we get to a firing range before we start playing with this." He said, placing the gun back down.  
"Why does Kayden get a gun and not us?" Miko complained.  
"Because you are underage." Fowler stated.  
"You have an age limit on firearms?" Arcee questioned.   
"It's to prevent young children from endangering themselves." Fowler said.  
"Yet the adults do all of the killing." Kayden hummed.  
"Do you want me to take the gun away?" Agent Fowler threatened.  
Kayden gave a shrug and pointed at the gun. "A lead bullet won't hurt a Decepticon." She said.  
"Kayden has a point." Ratchet said. "Your larger weapons may be able to do some damage but a puny gun like that can't even shoot out an optic."  
"The gun is meant to be used for protection against humans." Fowler explained. "After the whole MECH deal,I'm not taking any chances of another human organization causing problems."  
Ratchet was about to reply when a beeping from his computer caught his attention. He turned to it to discover that the Decepticon war ship, Nemisis, was down and in clear view. Ratchet turned to Optimus who studied the image they were seeing before turning towards his team.  
"This may very well be a trap, but we cannot afford to lose this chance to make a full out attack against the Decepticons." Optimus declared. His team shuffled, eager to follow their leader.  
Each member began to prepare themselves. Optimus walked over to the Spark Extractor and hesitently lifted it up.  
"You are even bringing that?" Ratchet asked.  
"I do not wish to use such a method but I cannot deny that it may be our greatest chance of thoroughly defeating Megatron." Optimus stated.  
Ratchet watched Optimus move towards the ground bridge. He set the coordinates and opened the gates. With a quick glance between each member, he nodded.  
"Be careful." He said.  
Optimus nodded and they all disappeared into the open gate. Once they were gone, the humans gathered around the computer.

"You want me to call Megatron?" Ratchet asked, completely dumbfounded. Behind them stood the paralyzed members of Team Prime. A stasis beam from the Nemisis had left them in the state but without finishing them off or even recollecting the spark extractor, the ship left. It even left off it's cloaking system.  
The humans all gave Ratchet a shrug. Something was obviously wrong and they didn't exactly have another option. Ratchet let out a sigh and turned to the computer.  
"This is Autobot base to Nemisis. Can you hear me?" Ratchet asked. He received silence for several kliks before a deep and robotic voice responded.  
"I am Nemisis, I am sentient." The voice said.  
"Nemisis? You mean the ship is alive?" Raf asked.  
"What happened to Megatron?" Ratchet questioned.  
"My priority is the decoding of the Iacon Relics." Nemisis said. "Megatron went against the priority and was terminated."  
"Dude, the ship scrapped Megatron." Miko said.  
"More likely he was put into stasis like our team was." Ratchet said in a hushed voiced. The communication with Nemisis was suddenly cut off and Ratchet grumbled.  
"If Megatron is in stasis than it's a good chance that the entire Decepticon army is as well." Jack said.  
"But how on earth is the ship alive?" Fowler questioned.  
"I have a hunch." Ratchet stated. "After Bulkhead messed up the ship's power, Megatron may have used Dark Energon to speed up the repairs. This gave the ship a sentient mind."  
"So it's possible that until the dark energon is flushed from the ship, the stasis status won't go away." Raf said. They all turned towards their frozen guardians.  
"What if we sneak onto Nemisis?" Jack asked.  
"What?" Ratchet questioned.  
"We can sneak on and switch out the dark energon with regular energon." Jack said. "We can also download the Iacon records at the same time!"  
"That's a great idea!" Miko cheered.  
"And completely reckless!" Ratchet scolded.  
"Who else can do it?" Kayden questioned. She placed her gun in her holster and looked up at the medic.  
"I'll go with them as well." Fowler said.  
Ratchet grumbled something in cybertronian before ex-venting. "Fine, but you must be as careful as you can be." He said.  
Miko and Jack high fived as they went to the ground bridge. Ratchet handed Raf a large device that looked like a USB drive. Once the bridge was open, the humans quickly went through it, coming face to face with the bridge of Nemisis.   
Knockout and Soundwave were both collapsed against the controls and several Vehicons were frozen in awkward positions. Kayden walked up to Knockout's foot and knocked on it. The con didn't even budge.  
"Doc Knock is knocked out." Miko said with a grin.  
Kayden nodded and began to scale the red Decepticon. The others followed suit except for Agent Fowler who carelessly touched one of Soundwave's tentacles and got zapped. The man fell back, completely out of it.  
"Can he ever not get zapped?" Miko asked in disbelief.  
"Be quiet Miko, we need to hurry." Jack said. Kayden noticed a sensor in the ceiling and pointed it out. "Nobody move!"  
The four humans froze as the sensor scanned over the computer. Seconds felt like hours before the sensor finally left. They all let out a collective sigh.  
"So did it like not see us?" Miko asked.  
"It's possible that it wasn't scanning for organics." Raf said.  
"So let's finish this before it decides to scan for us." Jack said.  
Raf found the spot to plug in the alien USB drive and with the help of Miko, got it in. A screen popped up in Cybertronian and they all looked at Kayden with a helpless look. Kayden stepped forward, reading the screen before clicking a few buttons as she set it up to download the Iacon Relics. As soon as it started to download, another screen popped up, showing that the Nemisis was starting to decode the Iacon Relic locations.  
"We need to hurry." Jack said.   
"We can leave the drive here, let's get the energon problem fixed." Kayden said.  
Carefully they scaled down Knockout. Raf's phone rang as Ratchet called them.  
"Are all of you okay?" Ratchet asked.  
"Agent Fowler got zapped but we have the data downloading." Miko said.  
"Well that's not too bad." Ratchet muttered. "I managed to get a basic layout of the Nemisis, I'll get you four to the engine room as quickly as possible."  
"Let's do this then." Jack said.  
Following Ratchet’s instructions, the four left the bridge and kept a quick pace as they went through the halls. Dreadwing was found in the hall along with Vehicons and Insecticons. Kayden was a bit wary of the Insecticons, remembering the one that nearly killed her on Cybertron. After several minutes the door to the engine room was in view.  
Entering it, the four humans froze. In front of them was Megatron, sprawled back like he was about to fall but frozen in stasis. His hand was on a switch on a tall panel. Jack and Kayden looked at each other with a nod. They began to run towards Megatron as Jack pointed at Miko and Raf.  
"You two stay there, Megatron will start moving the moment we flip that switch!" Jack shouted.  
Kayden gripped at a spike on the side of Megatron's leg and easily began to scale the frozen warlord. She helped Jack until they both stood on the upper arm that was connected to the panel. Kayden looked at Megatron and pulled out her phone. She ushered Jack in for a selfie with him and the boy obliged with a sigh.  
"Do you have to do stuff like that?" Jack asked as they walked along Megatron's arm.   
"It's fun." Kayden said.   
Jack shook his head as they leaped onto the platform. Jack gave the switch a push but found it solid. He let out a large huff and forced his shoulder against it but nothing happened.   
"Jack! Kayden!" Miko shouted. The two looked up and noticed that the sensor was back and pointed at them.  
"Think it's scanning for organics?" Jack asked, swallowing a lump in his throat.  
"Organic pests found. Elimination process, start." Nemisis said.  
"That's a yes." Kayden said. She grabbed Jack's arm and dragged him under Megatron's hand, out of view of the sensor.   
"Hey! Ugly!" Miko shouted. The sensor turned towards Miko and Raf who bolted into a maze cluster of energon cubes.  
"Run away you two!" Jack shouted.  
"Like we're leaving you two!" Miko shouted back.  
Kayden moved out from underneath Megatron and began to push against the switch. Jack stood up, cautiously looking back at the sensor.  
"What are you doing?" Jack asked.  
"The sooner we get this switched pushed, the sooner they'll be safe." Kayden said.  
Jack frowned but went beside Kayden and began to push as well. Energon cubes tumbled as the ship tried to find Miko and Raf who were skillfully evading it. Humans were small, but that made them better at running and hiding.   
"What if we run and push?" Jack suggested.  
Kayden nodded. The two of them backed up and sprinted towards the switch. They felt it shift but it didn't collapse. Jack rubbed his arm as Miko and Raf screamed.  
"Once more." Kayden said. "All your might."  
Jack swallowed and gave her a solid nod. They backed up and in a full out sprint, rammed into the switch at full speed. This time it gave under their weight. The moment the switch fell, Kayden grabbed Jack's hand and began to run. Onto Megatron's arm as the large mech began to fall and the stasis began to wear off.   
"Miko! Raf! To the exit!" Jack shouted.  
Kayden stumbled as Megatron hit the ground, his eyes flicking on. She could see Miko and Raf. Her feet hit the metal before her and she pushed Jack ahead of her. He was tumbling off of Megatron the moment the titan's helm hit the ground. His red optics turned to Kayden as she jumped off and ran towards the exit. By the time Megatron was able to right himself, they had vanished down the hall.  
Without a pause, the four humans made it back to the bridge. Raf was asking Ratchet for a ground bridge as Miko began to lift Fowler onto her back.  
"Kayden the drive!" Jack said.  
"We gotta go dude!" Miko shouted.  
"We can't just leave what we came for!" Jack said. He followed Kayden up Knockout and straight to the drive.   
The two gave it a tug but the awkward angle made it impossible for them to move it. A loud jostle behind them made them turn and come face to face with a now awake Knockout.   
"Say ah!" Knockout threatened, turning his hand into a drill.  
Jack fell back as Kayden stood between him and Knockout.Shde stared Knockout straight into the optic, her mind going over bad plan after bad plan until Knockout let out a distressed cry and fell to the ground. Ratchet stood behind the fallen mech, letting out a huff as he picked up both Jack and Kayden and unplugged the drive. He turned around and calmly walked through the bridge, it closing just seconds before Megatron arrived.

Back in the base, Optimus and his team had been released from stasis. Bulkhead and Bumblebee were fussing over Miko and Raf respectively and Arcee stepped forward as Ratchet let Jack and Kayden down onto the platform.   
"Are you all alright?" Optimus asked. He was asking all of them but his optics were on Kayden.  
"We're all fine." Jack said.  
"It's an elephant in a banana!" Fowler shouted.   
"Well, for the most part." Miko said.  
"You guys pulled off a pretty bold move." Arcee said. She sounded proud.  
"We couldn't just leave you guys be." Kayden said.   
"Thank you, all of you." Optimus said.   
The four humans beamed as Ratchet plugged in the drive. He pulled it up and found four codes, all of them already decoded.  
"All of that work and we only got four codes." Miko said.  
"The Decepticons will most definitely split up their forces to go after these relics." Optimus said. "We cannot let them get ahead of us on this."  
"We'll have to split up as well." Bulkhead said.   
"That is our best option." Optimus agreed. "Ratchet, where are the relics?"  
"One is located in New York city, it seems to be in the subways." Ratchet said. "Another is located in the arctic, one in a volcanic region along the equator and the last is in a canyon a bit south from here."   
Optimus thought for a few seconds on how to divide up his team. "Arcee, you and Bumblebee will go to New York." He said.  
"I think I should go too." Jack said. "It would be less suspicious if an actual human was with you."  
"Hold up! If Jack's going, I should go too." Miko said. "I grew up in Tokyo, I know my way around a city better than some desert town country boy."  
Optimus looked at Arcee who shrugged. "They have a point." She said.  
"Alright then." Optimus said. "I will head to the arctic then."   
He let his eyes fall to Kayden but she shook her head. "Fowler is down so I should stay here in case you need anything official." Kayden said, hiding the fact that she hated the cold and had no intention of returning to the arctic unless necessary. Optimus seemed a bit down hearted by it but her logic was understandable.  
"I should stay here too." Raf said. "Just in case."  
Optimus gave the boy a nod and turned to Bulkhead. "I will entrust the volcanic region to you." Optimus said and Bulkhead smashed his fist against his hand in response. "Ratchet, please contact Wheeljack, I want him to accompany you to the canyon."  
"Optimus you can't be serious!" Ratchet complained.  
"We need to get all of the Relics and I worry about sending you to the field by yourself." Optimus said. "You can entrust the space bridge to Kayden and Rafael."  
Ratchet sighed, knowing he can't go against Optimus and began to call Wheeljack for his assistance. The others all got ready to go, Jack on Arcee and Miko in Bumblebee. Bulkhead waved his partner good bye as they went off to New York. Kayden waved Optimus off and then Bulkhead. Ratchet gave them a warning about not touching anything as he left to meet up with Wheeljack.  
The base was silent without anyone in it. Raf and Kayden looked at each other before Raf held up a box of cards. Kayden grinned and the two sat down on the key pad and began a game of War. It was several games later that Kayden received a call from Miko.  
"Dude we got a problem." Miko said.  
"What happened?" Kayden asked.  
"Some worker guy in the subway saw the cons." Miko said. "What should I do?"  
"Pretend you don't see anything." Kayden suggested, ignoring the look that Raf was giving her.  
"It's a little too late for that." Miko said.  
Kayden looked over at Fowler who was muttering something about donkeys and balloons. She sighed and looked back at the screen.  
"Say something about about a secret government organization and that he'll be briefed later." Kayden said.   
"Can I exaggerate?" Miko asked.  
"Go crazy." Kayden said. Miko hung up and Kayden let out a sigh.  
"Someone saw?" Raf asked. Kayden nodded and turned back to their game.  
"Did I do badly?" Kayden asked.  
"I think you did good for the fact that your boss is high." Raf said, eyeing Agent Fowler.  
Kayden giggled softly.

A half hour later, the computer beeped, registering Optimus as the caller. Kayden stood up and pressed the receive button.  
"I'm here Optimus." Kayden said.  
"The relic is inside of a human research facility." Optimus said. "Can you have it cleared of humans?"  
"I'll make a call." Kayden said. She swore she heard whining that sounded like Starscream. Optimus hung up and Kayden pulled out a cell phone that Fowler had given her.  
"Did Fowler give you the clearance for this?" Raf asked.  
"He did." Kayden said. She looked at the screen. Raf had brought up the research facility that Optimus was near.  
"This is Special Agent Fort of Team E, authorization code 5549832." Kayden said. "I am requesting the clearing of all human personal of the Arctic Research Team at the Snowman 8 Facility."  
Kayden waited for a few seconds and heard someone other than who she called scoffing. She frowned as another voice came on.  
"I don't recognize your voice so you must be new, who is your supervising officer?" The man asked. He was older and sounded like he smoked a carton a day.  
"Special Agent Fowler is my supervisor." Kayden stated.  
"And what is Team E?" The man asked.  
"Thats classified information that only authorized individuals are allowed to know." Kayden said. "Now please clear out Snowman 8 Facility of humans or their lives will be on your hands and Special Agent Fowler will be on your rear end."  
"I have given the order to have the researchers evacuated. They should be out in ten minutes." A female voice, the original recipient, said. The male scolded her. "If you want to stick your nose where it doesn't belong, leave me out of it. I'm not messing with an agent who makes a threat in such a soft voice."  
"Thank you." Kayden said before hanging up. She let out a long sigh and sat down.  
"You did good!" Raf said.  
"I thought I'd stutter when that guy came on." Kayden admitted.  
"Looks like those speaking lessons Optimus gave you for your oral exam are paying off." Raf said. He began to put their cards away.   
"I'm glad I asked him for that." Kayden admitted. She pushed the call button on the computer to let Optimus know that the facility would be empty soon.  
"Thank you Kayden." Optimus said as he watched the human snow vehicles leave the facility.  
"Be careful though." Kayden said. "It doesn't look it, but that place is built on a frozen lake."   
"Thank you for the warning." Optimus said. He hadn't noticed that the open field was in fact a lake, covered in ice and snow.

Twenty minutes later, Jack called Kayden about the human that had discovered their secret. She fumbled with her words until Agent Fowler recovered from his little trip and took over. After dubbing the man some dubious title and making him swear to secrecy, the agent hung up and all three of them let out a sigh.  
"Looks like you still need work on your people skills." Fowler told Kayden who was messing with her hair.  
"I've had enough of talking to people for a day." Kayden sighed. Fowler laughed.  
"I'll take the rest of the calls for the day then. You hang out with Raf." Fowler offered and Kayden nodded.   
As Fowler went to the computer to talk to Bulkhead, Kayden went to sit beside Raf who was working on a code. She tilted her head at it as she heard Ratchet and Wheeljack arguing through the boy's cellphone.  
"They caught Lazerbeak and Ratchet wants to implant a virus to steal the Iacon Relics from the Decepticons." Ratchet said, never looking up from his computer.  
"Smart." Kayden said. The lines of code made her head hurt though so she chose to glance back at the computer as Fowler continued to support Bulkhead.

The base was silent, even when Miko came with Bumblebee and Arcee laughing her head off. That laughter stopped though when she saw Bulkhead on the medical bed with a very concerned Ratchet hovering over him. Everyone was gathered around Bulkhead, giving Ratchet the space he needed but somber expressions on their faces.   
Miko ran over to Bulkhead, shouting for her best friend. Agent Fowler grabbed the girl before she could get too close.   
"Miko please wait, Ratchet is still looking him over." Fowler said, trying to calm the girl down.  
"What happened? Who did this?" Miko shouted, reaching desperately for Bulkhead. Kayden stepped closer to Miko and opened her arms. Miko shoved Fowler away and tightly wrapped her arms around Kayden.  
"The relic Bulkhead went after contained Tox En, a toxic energon that is lethal to us." Optimus explained.  
"An Insecticon called Hardshell hit him in the back when he was trying to return to base." Fowler said. "He couldn't protect himself."  
"I’ll kill him." Miko muttered against Kayden. "I'll turn him into scrap."  
Kayden sighed and gently stroked Miko's hair. When Ratchet said he had done what he could, Miko rushed to Bulkhead's side, curling up into a ball against him.  
"I'll call Miko's host parents and say she is staying with me." Kayden said.   
"Do you think its best if we leave her with Bulk?" Arcee asked.  
"In Miko's case, yes." Kayden said. "She'll know he'll be okay as long as she is by his side."  
"Does Wheeljack know?" Jack asked.  
"No, I haven't informed him of this yet." Optimus said. "I will do so later."  
His eyes went to Bulkhead. The wrecker was one of the toughest soldiers he knew. Seeing him down was hard and an anger sunk into his spark. Seeing Miko so broken up over it didnt make it any easier. Even Kayden was constantly glancing at her friend with clear concern.

So easily the children got attached to them, so easily they become sad when they are hurt.  
So easily he became attached to her. So easily he'd become hurt if something ever happened to her.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was hard to write


	14. I Believe I Can Fly

Tension was strung high in the Autobot base and no one wanted to be the first to break that silence. Bulkhead was still laid up on the medical berth with a computer monitoring his vitals beside him. It let out a steady beep as the wrecker slept through the stasis that Ratchet had put him into. Miko was curled up on his chassis, like she had been since returning with Wheeljack.  
Kayden knew Miko wanted revenge for what had happened to Bulkhead. She knew that Miko would seek out Wheeljack and get him to help her take that revenge. In all honesty, Kayden couldn't even chide Miko for executing said revenge, she'd do the same thing in her position. An optic for an optic, that's the law when you messed with a member of their family. And Miko executed that law perfectly. But Kayden couldn't find a way to reassure the girl, to let her know that she was on her side.   
To let her know that she'd approved of her method, even if the others hadn't.   
Instead Kayden leaned against the railing and watched as Optimus worked on decoding a set of coordinates. She had started to pick up on the patterns that broke the puzzle of the codes but all of this was just a distraction. A way to keep her mind away from her good friend (honestly Miko was like a little sister at this point) who was falling apart. She felt guilt sink in her stomach over trying to make a distraction but she needed to focus on something.  
"I've uncovered the location of the next relic." Optimus stated, calling attention to the team. His voice was a bit softer and stressed.  
"Where's this one located?" Jack asked.  
Optimus turned and pulled out a map, bringing up the middle east. "It is located in Greece. But appears to be quite far from any civilization."  
"Want Bee and I to check it out?" Arcee offered, gesturing to the scout.   
Optimus gave a nod to the small femme before turning to Ratchet. "It would be best for me to stay here and continue decoding. We cannot risk Megatron possibly uncovering another relic." He said, pulling up another code.  
"Keep your comm-link open." Ratchet advised the two Autobots as he opened the ground bridge. Arcee gave him a nod in acknowledgment before transforming beside Bumblebee.  
Tension returned to the base as Ratchet went to check on Bulkhead. He did his best not to disturb Miko who had once again cried herself to sleep. He noted a rise in Bulkhead's vitals. Soon the mech would be able to wake up, but the lingering effects of the tox-en and damage to his back strut wouldn't be known until he tries to move. There could be long lasting damage that would never go away, he could be paralyzed permanently. Ratchet gritted his denta and tried to shake away the negative thoughts that began to clog his processor.   
"This is Arcee, Ratchet do you read?"   
Everyone turned to the computer as Arcee's voice came through. Ratchet walked over to it and pressed a button before speaking.  
"I hear you Arcee, is something wrong?" Ratchet asked. Kayden stepped closer as she noticed Optimus peeking.  
"We're at the location but we can't find the relic." Arcee said. "Also the terrain is strange here. A lot of square holes that almost look like steps?"  
"Can you send a visual?" Ratchet asked. Several kliks later, a video feed of what Arcee was seeing came through. It showed a somewhat hilly terrain with several dug outs that were perfectly square and neatly tucked around the ruins of buildings. Kayden knew exactly what it was.  
"That's an archeological dig site." Kayden said. "That method of digging is the most effective for finding and removing artifacts without damaging them."  
"So i6ts safe to assume that humans found the relic already?" Arcee asked. She glanced around the site and stopped at an arched doorway.  
"Most likely." Kayden muttered. She began to twist her hair. The dig site looked familiar.   
"So what do we do now?" Ratchet asked, looking down at Kayden.  
"We should be able to find out who dug at that site." Raf suggested. "From there we can find out where the findings went."  
"No, we don't have to." Kayden said.  
"Why not?" Jack questioned.  
"I dug at that site. I know where the relic is." Kayden said, looking up at Ratchet.  
"Seriously?" Jack questioned.  
"Why didn't you tell us before we came here?" Arcee questioned.  
"Greece has hundreds of dig sites, I couldn't be certain." Kayden said. "And what was found there was put into secrecy."  
"What does that mean?" Ratchet asked as he set up a bridge for Arcee and Bumblebee.  
"When artifacts or information is found at a site that can't be automatically approved or authenticated, it isn't revealed to the public until everything is certain." Kayden explained. "We are sworn to secrecy until then and breaking that secrecy is the same as losing the trust of all scholars."  
"So let me get this straight," Jack began. "You went on a dig and found something strange and have been keeping it a secret all this time because of a whole sworn secrecy thing even though it could very well be an Autobot artifact?"  
"I went on that dig as a translator." Kayden said. "I was also a first year student. I only got a look at the item but it definitely wasn't ancient Greek."  
"Do you know where the relic is now?" Arcee asked, walking up to the platform.  
"It should be in my university vault." Kayden said. "If I get permission, I should be able to go inside."  
"Then let's get down there as quickly as possible." Arcee said. "We should have a jump on the cons for once. They won't have a clue where the relic went."  
Kayden gave her a nod and made her way down to the floor. Arcee and Bumblebee transformed, the latter leaving his front door open for Kayden.

"I was honestly surprised when you contacted me about the artifact vault." Professor Dawn said, handing a lanyard full of keys to Kayden. "You know which it is?"  
Kayden nodded as she shuffled through the old and new keys. Each one had a piece of paper taped to it. Numbers and letters were written in different handwriting, faded or messy but she knew where many of them went to. But it was the key labeled 42 that she was interested in. A simple fifty cent key that opened a door full of priceless artifacts.  
Kayden held it up, satisfied at finding the key so easily. Dawn stopped in front of a large door with a heavy duty keypad. She swiped her card and typed in a code before gesturing to Kayden who opened the door with the key.  
"So where did you get a job?" Dawn asked. "I heard you rejected all of your offers."  
Kayden swallowed hard as she handed back the keys. She knew her former professor would question her career choices and she really didn't want to deal with it.  
"You're not authorized to know." Kayden said, looking her dead in the eye.  
Dawn froze, staring back at Kayden before letting out a large laugh. She slapped Kayden on the back and turned to the door.  
"You really have a sense of humor, don't you?" Dawn laughed. "Just close the door when you're done looking through the stuff."  
Kayden sighed once the door closed. She hadn't technically lied to her former teacher. She really didn't want to lie to Dawn after all.   
The artifact vault was a large room full of metal shelves with boxes that were closed or open bins. Some of the stuff was invaluable but others were forgotten due to careless interns. It was honestly a treasure trove to any scholar, hence why they preferred calling it a vault instead of a storage. Kayden carefully traced the edges of boxes, collecting dust on her finger until she reached the edge. Well treasured but not well taken care of. Twas the life of a scholar.   
An urge grew in Kayden, one she hadn't felt in so long. A deep desire to open every box and try to figure out where it belonged. A curiosity that pushed at her and made her hands tremble. She had to hold herself back, knowing that she had no time for such a thing.   
Kayden went past the shelves and towards a cubby that was in the back. Hidden behind some Victorian era furniture, underneath a thick velvet curtain that Kayden knew she wasn't able to lift as a freshman. Now though, the curtain moved fairly easily, though awkward. The cubby underneath was plastic and cracked in places with various sized drawers. Some were filled to the brim but each one was labeled properly.  
Kayden pushed aside the furniture and kneeled to view the drawers at eye level. Sticky notes were taped to the front with various handwriting, some neat and others that could put a doctor to shame. Her finger stopped on a bucket labeled Greece. She opened the large drawer, surprised at the weight. A cheap linen cloth covered the prize underneath.  
Kayden pulled aside the fabric, revealing two large metal rings. They were black and grew with a blueish glow underneath. Identical in every way, the rings were uneven in a way that Kayden knew was Cybertronian. Though now that she had known the Autobots, Kayden felt that they resembled braces more than rings.  
Kayden took out her phone and took a picture of the braces, sending it to the base. Seconds later her phone rang.  
"I'm here." Kayden stated, tracing her finger over a brace.  
"Those are indeed our technology." Ratchet said. "They're an Autobot weapon though we considered them a failed product."  
"Want me to take them?" Kayden asked. She glanced towards the door and watched as the shadow of a person passed the tinted window. Getting such large and heavy objects out of there was going to be fun.  
"Yes, we don't want to lose a single one of the relics, even if they are a failure." Ratchet answered.  
Kayden placed her phone down and gripped one of the braces in her hands. The moment she did, it buzzed to life and mass displaced into itself. The second brace did the same the moment the first one finished.  
"Kayden, what was that sound?" Ratchet asked.  
"They mass displaced." Kayden said, a bit surprised. She picked one up and noted how it went from the size of a tire to the size of an anklet for humans. At least she could get them out of there with ease.   
"They are programmed to do that." Ratchet informed her.   
Hanging up, kayden shoved her phone and the braces into her pockets. She quickly covered up the drawer and pulled the velvet curtain back over it. Dusting off her shorts, Kayden turned around and swiftly left the artifact vault.  
She kept her pace to the exit swift, eyes focused ahead of her. People moved out of her way, no one tried to greet her but she could see glances. Despite deciding to disappear from this world, Kayden had still left her mark. At least that was what Dawn had said. Maybe she'd end up an enigma of the scholar society, that would be interesting.   
Kayden had her hand on the door when a hand on her shoulder stopped her. Dawn had caught up to her and was smiling, a binder in one hand and a coffee that she was certain was spiked with vodka in the other.  
"Did you find what you were looking for?" Dawn asked.   
Kayden nodded her head and glanced out the window where Arcee was parked next to Bee.   
"It's strange, but I feel like I needed to stop you. That this would be the last time I'd ever see you and that I'd live with regret if I didn't stop you right now." Dawn said, looking up at the sky that was threatening snow. "Did you regret taking my class?"  
"No." Kayden said immediately, staring her professor straight in the eye. "I learned so much, I loved what I learned. I had fun. I just…"  
"You hates having to explain how you understood things." Dawn finished, nodding her head. "You're flexible and sometimes its difficult to understand how people like you think. Even you don't understand how you think. It just comes to you naturally. That's why a life of a scholar would be too much for you."  
"You knew…" kayden frowned.  
"It's not my job to tell you how to choose your path." Dawn countered. "You have an insatiable curiosity that can only be handled when you go at your own pace. Go discover the world however you please. If you want to learn again, I'd love to be your professor once more."  
Kayden fumbled in her spot, fingers knotting together as her face turned red. Dawn smiled and gave Kayden a pat on the back.  
"See you around." Dawn said. She turned around and headed back down the hall.  
Kayden stood where she was, watching the back of her former professor. She glanced around the school, at the rewards safely locked in a display case, polished daily. At banners and curtains in the college colors with their insignia embroidered on the center. The tiled floor that could break anything that fell onto it. A heavy scent of dirt and dust that no one could get rid of. It was all nostalgic, but deep down, Kayden felt she had taken advantage of it all. She turned to leave, hoping to leave the mellow feelings behind her but she knew that they would never completely leave her alone.   
The winter air broke any train of thought that Kayden had, reminding her that it was December and she was in shorts and a tank top. She rushed across the parking lot and into the front seat of Bumblebee's cab. The young bot had the heat on which Kayden was very grateful for. She shivered, letting her body warm up before she said anything.  
"I've got them." Kayden finally said. "Ratchet said they are Autobot technology."  
"Then let's take them back to base and see how we can put them to good use." Arcee said. She brought out her hologram that she had named Sally and backed up. Bumblebee followed suit and it wasn't too long before they were on the highway.  
More people were out with the holiday season approaching and they needed to find a well hidden location to bridge back to base. Kayden settled in her seat and pulled the braces out of her pocket. They were radiating a slight warmth and blue lights pulsed through them. She held it up in the mirror, peaking through the hole to see if there was something special about it. But she saw nothing but a familiar candy red racer and black twins riding behind them.  
"Company." Kayden said calmly. She noticed Arcee's windows adjust in front of them before she revved her engine.  
"We can't afford a fight on a free way." Arcee said. "Kayden, any good place away from people?"  
"Take the next exit." Kayden informed her. "There's a ball park there that is empty at this time of the year."  
"Sounds good to me." Arcee stated, cutting off a truck and disappearing from view.   
Bumblebee sped over after her and Knockout was quick to follow after him but the Vehicons were slower. Bee took the ramp the best he could as Knockout's taunts could be heard behind him. Kayden felt the seatbelt tighten around her because the moment Bumblebee hit a straight away, he floored it. Kayden hit the back of the chair and a grin grew on her face as the world sped past them.   
Bumblebee was speeding well past the limit and hitting speeds that could shame drag racers. And Knockout was keeping up perfectly.   
Arcee turned into the ball park, kicking up dirt as she led them to the open field that was well hidden by thick evergreen trees. She transformed and got her blasters up as Bumblebee skid to a stop behind her. He let Kayden get out before transforming and raising his guns to Knockout who casually changed into his bipedal forms.  
"Well this is a rude greeting." Knockout stated, gesturing towards them.   
"How'd you find us?" Arcee questioned. Kayden tightened her grip on the relic that was still securely in her pocket.  
"The relic set off an energy signal." Knockout answered.   
"Ah!" Kayden covered her mouth, remembering the power surge that was generated when the braces mass displaced. Arcee and Bumblebee glanced down at Kayden but kept their stances.   
"Either way, the relic is ours." Arcee stated.   
"We'll see about that." Knockout said, bringing out his staff and charging at them.  
Arcee moved to the side, taking several shots that he knocked down. Bumblebee stood his ground, dodging the electrical charge at the last second. His optics looked for Kayden but she was hidden behind a tree and hopefully well out of danger. Steadying himself on his pedo, Bumblebee brought his fist under Knockout's chin, landing an uppercut.  
Knockout stumbled and fell back, cussing out something about his face before pulling back as Arcee let out another string of blasts. Flustered and angry, Knockout looked between the two of them before figuring it out.  
"Neither of you is carrying the relic." Knockout declared. He ex-vented as his optics landed on Kayden. She stood beside a tree, not even trying to hide. Her eyes were on Knockout and he felt a shiver run up his back strut. That human's eyes always seemed to stare straight into him and he didn't like it one bit. But it was obvious that they were entrusting her with the relic.  
"Let's change things up then." Knockout declared, standing up straight as the two vehicons he'd brought with him finally arrived.   
They drove past Knockout, launching at Arcee and Bumblebee who moved to the side swiftly in order to avoid the collision. Transforming, the two Vehicons successfully managed to separate the two Autobots and give Knockout a clear path to Kayden. He sauntered forward, a smirk played on his lips as he knelt down in front of the small human. Kayden stood her ground, hands clenched into tight fists and shoulders squared. Megatron didn't scare her and Knockout definitely didn't scare her.  
"I was expecting you to run away but this does make things easier." Knockout stated. He leaned close enough for Kayden to touch his faceplate if she moved forward. "Hand over the relic."  
"Kayden run!" Arcee's voice penatrated the air over the crunching of metal and sharp noise of blaster fire.   
Kayden's feet moved but she was running towards the titan in front of her instead of away. Knockout was caught off guard and was left helpless as Kayden's fist landed perfectly into his optic. He shot up with a yelp, covering the optic with his servo. Kayden took that chance to run between his pedos and out into the field.   
She didn't make it far though as Knockout let out a desperate shot that hit behind Kayden, sending her sprawling. The relics fell out of her pockets, tumbling meters away from her. Knockout noticed them and instantly dived for them.  
Ignoring the burning sensation in her hand and the throbbed of her back, Kayden scrambled to her feet and jumped towards the relics. She expected to see a blur of red flying towards her. She saw a black form being thrown to the side and a smaller blue one shouting at her. She could barely make out the sound of her name.  
But Kayden certainly saw the electric charge of Knockout's staff and the crackling sound as it came closer.   
She definitely felt the surge run through her body and a weight on her legs that made it impossible for her to move.  
She knew that she'd made a bad decision when she heard the explosion and smelt something burning. When she felt herself hit so hard on the ground that it knocked out a breath she hadn't realized she was holding.   
When her eyes finally caught up to her brain, she was on her back, staring at the sky as snow began to fall. She was cold, but her body was on fire. Someone was shouting her name, she could barely hear them though. Kayden moved her head to the side, her hand was there. It was trembling, but it was there.   
A red figure loomed over her, she blinked a few times before she made out Knockout. The con was looking smug but also a tad impressed.  
"Well I'm surprised, I'd figure you'd be blown to bits." Knockout said. Kayden stuck her tongue out, not having the energy to do anything else. Knockout chuckled but stopped as his optics stopped at her legs. "I don't remember you wearing these before."  
Knockout lifted Kayden up by her left leg. His claws tapped at the relic braces that were now attached to both of her legs, resting right below her knees.   
"Let her go Knockout!" Arcee shouted. The femme was panicking inside. Kayden was caught and neither she nor Bumblebee could do anything right now. They were at a point of having to sacrifice the relic to make sure Kayden was safe.  
"Don't worry, I'll give her back once I get the relic." Knockout said with a slight hum. He tapped at the relic again, trying again to release it but got nothing.  
With the blood going to her head and the pain from the shock going through her again, Kayden felt her patience begin to run thin. Curling her abdomen up, she brought her right leg up to stomp right on Knockout's faceplate. She hadn't expected it to do anything, a desperate attack out of annoyance. But the moment she felt her foot make contact, a surge ran through her legs and she was being sent flying backwards.  
Arcee noticed how Kayden suddenly flew back and moved to catch her. She got her arms around her but her optics froze at Kayden's legs. Once Kayden had righted her head, she stared as well. Where her bare legs and boots once were sat robotic legs. They were black and sleek with dark grey accents and blue bio lights. Kayden moved her right leg and the robot leg moved with her. She looked up at Arcee.  
"Aerial Boots." Arcee said. "They were an old Autobot project to let grounders fly."  
"And a failed experiment at that." Knockout said. "They are impossible to control. What a waste of time."  
Knockout dusted himself off and transformed, driving off and leaving the defeated Vehicons behind. Bumblebee trotted over to Arcee and Kayden. He let out a drawl of worried beeps, frantically looking Kayden over.   
"I'm okay." Kayden said, patting his helm. "Can I be put down?"  
"Not until we get back to base." Arcee said. "Knockout was right when he called these a failed experiment. Can't risk you flying off."  
"I can fly with these?" Kayden asked, eyeing the boots with her eyes sparkling.  
"Yeah but who knows where you'll go and when you'll fall." Arcee scolded.   
Bumblebee called for a ground bridge and even back at base, Arcee kept her hold on Kayden. The boots were still activated and Kayden finally noticed a bar that rested under the center of her foot inside of them.  
"What happened?" Ratchet asked. Both Bumblebee and Arcee were covered in dents and scratches and Kayden was dirty and bruising. He stopped moving when he saw what was on her legs. "Are those activated?"   
"Yes and they work." Arcee said.   
"Keep your hold on Kayden then." Ratchet said.   
At Kayden's name being said, Optimus turned around, easily drawing his attention from his decoding. Arcee had her arms wrapped around Kayden, she looked like a mess, bruised and cut but as usual was unaffected by the injuries. Ratchet was holding up her legs that looked much more Cybertronian now than before.   
"Are those the Aerial Boots?" Optimus asked. He walked up beside Ratchet and returned the small wave that Kayden gave him.   
"They are but I have no idea how they got onto her." Ratchet stated. He had repeatedly tried to hit the switch to deactivate them but it didn't work. "What happened?"  
"The relic fell to the ground and Knockout threw his spear at the same time Kayden reached for them." Arcee said. "After the explosion, they were stuck to her legs."  
"Another explosion?" Ratchet ex-vented, a sense of irritation in his voice. Kayden looked away.  
"Kayden, are you alright?" Optimus asked, leaning down. He wanted to brush the hair that had fallen over her face but he held it back.   
"It hurt but it's just a dull pain right now." Kayden said. She had wanted to tell him she was fine but lying to him made her feel bad.  
"I'll call my mom." Jack said. He took out his phone and began to walk away from the group.  
"I can't get the boots off or even deactivate them." Ratchet scolded. "The blast must have damaged them."  
"Can we force them off?" Arcee asked.  
"Not without risking them exploding." Ratchet replied.  
"I like my legs." Kayden said.   
"What exactly are the Aerial Boots?" Raf asked. They looked cool from what he'd seen but they bots were very cautious about them.  
"A failed Autobot weapon from the earlier days of the war." Ratchet said. "We didn't have many fliers and tried to give grounders a way to fly to make up for the disadvantage."  
"They ended up being uncontrollable and dangerous to their users." Optimus added. "We banned the production of them long ago."  
"So them being stuck on Kayden is dangerous." Raf figured.  
"And Arcee is holding her like a rag doll to keep her from flying off?" Jack asked. "My mom will be here in an hour."  
"She went flying once already, I'm not risking that again." Arcee said.  
"How did you get it to fly?" Ratchet asked.  
"By kicking Knockout in the face." Kayden said, gently tapping Ratchet on his servo.  
This turned out to be a mistake since the moment she did the boots activated and sent her up. Arcee tried to keep a grip on Kayden but it got to the point she was worried she'd hurt Kayden if she kept holding on. The moment Arcee loosened her grip a tiny bit, Kayden shot to the ceiling.  
Kayden felt her body become weightless as she shot up. Everyone was looking up at her as she looked down. She thought the boots were slowing down but instead she slammed her head straight into the rock ceiling of the base. Kayden flinched and covered the back of her head with her hands. With the pain in her head, she didn't notice she was falling at first until Jack shouted her name.  
Kayden looked down again and found herself plummeting towards a group of frantic bots. She glanced around quickly and quietly cussed at the boots when she had nothing to grab. The boots apparently had audio receptors because they activated again and sent her flying down, head first and much faster than before. Optimus had his servos out, ready to catch her and Kayden mentally knew that it was going to hurt, a lot. Meters from landing on solid metal, Kayden moved her foot and felt the bar that was under it move too.  
The boots move, jerking Kayden into an upward direction before burning out and dropping her just feet above Optimus’s servos, all momentum gone. Kayden landed on her butt and everyone stayed quiet, trying to process the events that had taken less than a minute but lost them several years of their life span. Kayden felt her heart pounding in her chest, distracting her from the pounding in her head.   
"Kayden, are you okay?" Ratchet asked, breaking the silence.  
Kayden nodded and carefully traced her fingers over the boots. "That was kinda fun." She admitted.  
"No." Ratchet said, stepping closer to Optimus who seemed to be frozen. The large mech was staring at Kayden, optics focused on her but didn't seem to process that Kayden was out of danger. "Optimus?"  
He snapped out of the trance as Kayden was attempting to stand up. She was wobby and had difficulty getting her balance. "Maybe you should stay sitting for the time being." Optimus suggested.   
Kayden looked up at him and sat back down without any argument. She could hear Optimus ex-vent once she did.  
Ratchet tried messing with the boots again and this time the boots collapsed back into the braces that were still securely attached to Kayden's legs. Ratchet gave a relieved expression.  
"It looks like the blast simply over charged them and once they released that energy, they began to work properly." Ratchet said. He attempted to remove the braces but this time they didn't respond.  
"Except the release device is fried?" Arcee questioned.  
"It would seem so." Ratchet grumbled. "Which means until we manage to fix that, they will remain stuck on Kayden."  
"How long will it take to fix?" Optimus asked.   
"Usually not too long but since we need to focus on the Iacon relic recovery, it will take longer." Ratchet said. Optimus seemed discontent with this.  
"I don't mind waiting until we collect them all." Kayden said. She looked up at Optimus with a soft smile. "I don't mind having these on."  
"You could suddenly go flying again." Arcee warned her.   
"Maybe I can control them." Kayden pondered, tapping at the device.  
"Kayden even our best autobots couldn't control those." Ratchet scolded.  
"And?" Kayden asked him, tilting her head to the side.  
Ratchet ex-vented and shook his helm. He wasn't going to argue with Kayden, especially not when she seemed so interested in the boots. Let her try a few times in the base and she'd give up quickly enough. Optimus carefully let Kayden down onto the ramp, watching her hobble slightly to the couch. He waited for her to sit down before returning to the code he'd been half way through decoding.  
Arcee leaned against the railing, watching Jack point out a particularly dark bruise that had formed on Kayden's arm. "Are you serious about trying to control those boots?" She asked.  
Kayden turned to face Arcee and nodded. "I think it could be interesting." Kayden said. "I want to fly."  
Arcee glanced back at Bumblebee who gave a small cheer for Kayden. "Might want to keep your mom on speed dial Jack, we might need her." Arcee said.  
"Dont worry, she already is." Jack sighed.


	15. Hurt

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’ve been wanting to write these next few chapters since the beginning so they are coming quick.  
> Also me bsing science terms, yay!

"As for Kayden's injuries, she is fine." June Darby stated. "I gave her some medicine for the pain, though I'm currently regretting that."  
The nurse turned to the group of children who had gathered around Kayden. She was standing on the railing of the platform. Twenty feet above concrete, wearing alien flight boots that are impossible to control. With full intention of jumping off.  
"Why do you regret that?" Miko asked. She was cheering Kayden on the most.  
"Because maybe if Kayden still had the reminder of the pain her body is in, she wouldn't be doing something so stupid." June snapped.  
Kayden shrugged. "We prepared mattresses." She said, pointing to the stack of five old mattresses that Bumblebee had gotten them.   
"Do any of you have to say something about this?" June asked the Autobots.   
Ratchet looked away while Arcee shrugged and Bumblebee let out a whirl of beeps that June couldn't translate. Optimus clearly was too wrapped up in his decoding to realize that his favorite human was trying to kill herself and Bulkhead was doing exercises in hopes of getting his legs back in order. June let out a sigh.  
"At least wear padding." She said.  
"I'll compromise with the helmet." Kayden stated.   
"Have you become more careless since you graduated?" June asked.  
"No I'm just free enough to do whatever I want now." Kayden said.  
"And jumping off a twenty foot railing is what you want?" June argued.  
"No, flying with these boots is what I want." Kayden countered. "Jumping off a twenty foot railing is the process."  
"Just wear the helmet." June sighed.  
Jack handed his bike helmet to Kayden with an apologetic look. "Do you think you can really control these?" He asked. "Sounds like they were scrapped for a good reason."  
"If Raf's data is right, I should have a chance." Kayden said.  
"What data?" Jack asked.  
"A matter of physics." Raf said, adjusting his glasses.   
Kayden clipped on the helmet and looked down at the already activated Aerial Boots. Ratchet had worked out the kinks to make sure that they didn't malfunction but they were still firmly stuck to her. She didn't really mind it. Something about having alien weaponry stuck to her was fun. She gave the mattress pile one last look before stepping off.  
The boots didn't activate the first time. Kayden hadn't managed to hit the switch in time and landed flat on her back.  
The second time she got it but was projectiled straight into the wall under the platform.  
The third time Arcee had to catch her again when she went spiraling out of control.   
Kayden marched up the stairs, ready to try the fourth attempt at getting control of the boots. This time she had Ratchet's attention. The medic was shaking his helm as Kayden climbed back up.  
"Aren't you ready to give up yet?" Ratchet asked.  
"I've only jumped three times." Kayden said.  
"And you've failed every time." Ratchet retorted.  
"I don't like failing." Kayden said. "I will keep jumping until I fly."  
"That’s crazy." Ratchet scoffed.  
Kayden gave him a smile and once again stepped off the railing. Her feet hit the ignition switch and energon burst out the bottom of the boots. Her balance altered as the boots began to push her up. Kayden adjusted the bars under her feet slightly and felt herself straighten up. Internally she was screaming as she rose up and didn't start to go spiraling around in various directions.   
Kayden adjusted her position and felt her body begin to move in the direction she wanted to go into. She felt confidence swell in her as she did a few adjustments and began to fly around the base. She could hear the cheers and wows of amazement until she flew straight into the wall.  
Optimus caught Kayden this time as well. Seeing her collide into the wall right above him was quite distracting though she was much more spritely this time. She immediately stood up, pulling off her helmet and leaning against his thumb to talk to Ratchet.  
"I figured it out!" Kayden exclaimed. Ratchet looked at her in disbelief but Kayden turned to Optimus. "Can I go outside?"  
"Why do you need to go outside?" Optimus questioned.  
"Because if I keep flying inside I'll keep running into walls." Kayden said.  
Optimus frowned, thinking the request over. It wasn't that he had an issue with Kayden going outside to try the Aerial Boots, honestly it was much safer than her flying inside the base. But he wanted to go with her, make sure she was safe with his own optics.   
"Ten minutes." Kayden said. "I just need ten minutes."  
Optimus let out a deep ex-vent. Kayden had a determined look in her eye. But she was also brimming with excitement and energy that he rarely saw her express. He couldn't say no.  
"Ten minutes." Optimus said. He saved the coding work that he had finished and turned away from his computer, Kayden still in his hand. "We will be back shortly."  
The Autobots watched in silence as Optimus left the base with Kayden. Once they were gone, they looked between each other.  
"She got Optimus to stop working." Bulkhead stated, thoroughly impressed.  
"She got the boots to work." Ratchet said in disbelief.

Outside, Optimus found them a spot that was hidden from the road. Kayden looked around at the open sky in excitement. Once he stood still, she walked to the edge of his hand and stepped off. Kayden dropped but shot up immediately, going straight up into the sky. Optimus shaded his optics from the sun, having no intention of letting her out of her sight.  
Kayden covered her mouth in excitement at how high she had managed to get. Even Optimus seemed small from where she was, the horizon was curved. She was on top of the world.  
With a little practice, Kayden managed to figure out how to hover. As long as she kept her body still, she had no issues with flipping over. When she wanted to move, careful movement of the bar let her change speed as she used her body to pivot and alter direction. It only took a slight twist of her hips to move and soon she was soaring through the sky like superman.   
Kayden smiled widely after managing to do a flip in the air. She was flying, she was really flying. She covered her mouth and let out a laugh as she began to descend. As she got lower to the ground, Kayden spotted Optimus waving for her. She went down to him and tried to pull up to land gently but missed the timing and successfully plowed straight into his chassis.   
Optimus stepped back in surprise at the rough landing. His servos cupped around Kayden to make sure she didn't fall. She pushed off, her hands braced to his windows with a smile he hadn't seen since they went diving. A smile that managed to make his spark swell.  
"I flew!" Kayden explained. "I really flew!"  
"Your landing could use some work." Optimus admitted. He was smiling though, proud of his partner for succeeding.   
"Yes but I flew." Kayden laughed.  
"You did." Optimus said. "Good work."

They returned to base with the successful news and Ratchet seemed to be the most floored by it. As Optimus went back to his work and Kayden stood on the platform, he was throwing his hands in the air.  
"How come you succeeded where Autobots failed?!" Ratched shouted. "It doesn't make sense!"  
"Actually it does." Raf said, earning a hard stare from the medic. Raf cleared his throat. "Kayden is much lighter than you guys and her center of gravity is more balanced. She can alter her body much easier when she needs to."  
"Her center of gravity…" Ratchet muttered. A bio light seemed to light in his processor because Ratchet finally seemed to understand what Raf was talking about. "Our processors have a function that warns us when our bodies are out of balance but we don't always have the ability to fix it. Smaller bots like Arcee have an easier time adjusting while bulky frames like Bulkhead can struggle. Fliers have a special function that allows them to keep them balanced in the air."  
"Humans generally have a great sense of balance and we can control our center of gravity better. Especially women who have more balanced bodies." June chimed in.  
"Since the main problem with the Aerial Boots was keeping control of your balance, Kayden had a much easier time figuring out how to control it." Raf said.   
"But are humans capable of keeping it up?" Ratchet wondered. He didn't like the idea of Kayden suddenly plummeting out of the sky again.  
"It's called a Repetition Response." June said. "Human bodies can learn anything by repeatedly doing the process. We have a saying that you can never forget how to ride a bike because your body always remembers. It’s the same with any physical sport in all honesty."  
"So as long as you guys keep practicing, your bodies remember the movements?" Arcee asked.  
"Pretty much." Jack said.  
"Well that explains why Kayden was so determined to keep trying." Bulkhead added.  
"I can't land very well though." Kayden admitted.  
"Have you ever landed well with these?" Miko asked. She laughed as Kayden shook her head.  
Ratchet let out an exhausted ex-vent and covered his face with his servos. These children were going to be the death of him some day. He just knew it.  
"Can I keep them?" Kayden asked.  
"What?" Ratchet asked.  
"The Aerial Boots, can I keep them?" Kayden asked.  
Ratchet gave her a good long stare. "You can only use them if one of us is with you."   
Kayden beamed and Miko gave her a high five.

(*A*)

Kayden was the only human at the base when a beacon from an escape pod entered through the atmosphere. All of the Autobots were at base, the kids at school. Ratchet noticed the signal the moment it appeared and was quick to inform Optimus.  
"Can we tell whose pod it is?" Arcee asked. It was going to land in a forested area.  
"No. We'll have to go to it in person to see who is inside." Ratchet said.  
"Should we call in Wheeljack?" Arcee suggested. "Bulkhead's not up to combat spec yet."  
"Absolutely not." Ratchet spat. The last time Wheeljack was at the base, he dragged Miko into a revenge stunt that was still affecting the young girl.  
"Then you will accompany me, Arcee and Bumblebee on this trip." Optimus said.  
"Why me?" Ratchet asked.  
"An injured Autobot may be in that pod. We may need you." Optimus said. Ratchet couldn't deny that.  
"Bulkhead, take care of the ground bridge." Ratchet said.  
The large mech limped over to the controls. "I gotcha." He said. Pulling down the lever.  
Once they were gone, Bulkhead let out an ex-vent and leaned against a metal crate. His servos rested on his bad pedo and rubbed it slightly. Kayden watched him.   
Bulkhead had recovered greatly from his ordeal, he could even walk unassisted but it would be some time until he was in top shape. Miko helped him a lot with his physical needs, doing the therapy religiously, but Kayden knew that mentally Bulkhead was hurting just as much.  
"Want to say what's on your mind?" Kayden asked. She leaned against the railing above him.  
Bulkhead looked up at Kayden and then back to his knee. "I feel like I'm becoming a burden on the team." He admitted. "I can barely even walk."  
"Injuries take time." Kayden said. "The team knows that."  
"But can we really afford that time?" Bulkhead asked.   
"Can you afford to not take that time?" Kayden asked. "You could make yourself worse by pushing yourself. No one wants that."  
"Kayden no offense but I don't like being lectured by the girl who jumped off that platform the day after she got blown up." Bulkhead said.  
"I only got caught in an explosion and human recovery is very fast. It has to be." Kayden retorted.  
"Why?" Bulkhead asked.  
"Because humans evolved through a society of war." Kayden said. "Every generation of our kind is fighting."  
"So we live forever and have just one war, but you all live such short lives and are always at war." Bulkhead said. "If you look at it like that, it makes sense. But why don't we see it."  
"Because Fowler has kept you out of our warzones." Kayden said. "We are part of this war because Megatron wants to take over Earth, but our own wars are truly our own. We won't drag you guys into them."  
"Even if the war never ends?" Bulkhead asked.  
"Bulkhead, I know Optimus would defend my country if that was a way to keep us safe." Kayden said. "I don't want to see the people of my country die, but that doesn't mean my country is right in their war."  
"If your cause isn't right, why don't you try and stop it?" Bulkhead questioned.  
"We've been trying, but this country is too big. There are too many of us. Our opinions are so split." Kayden said. "We can't all stand together with a common goal."  
"Is that why the fighting never ends?" Bulkhead asked.  
"One of the reasons." Kayden admitted.  
"If Cybertron had ended up like that, I don't think I would've known who to fight for." Bulkhead admitted. "Decepticons bombed my construction site. It was the early years of the war. We were just trying to keep the city from falling apart and all of our work was just blown to pieces. I lost so many friends in that explosion. I was so angry.   
"It was pretty easy to choose a side after that. I couldn't forgive the Decepticons for killing the bots I'd worked with for all of my life. I got recruited by the Wreckers not long after that. But it took centuries before I ever met Optimus for the first time." Bulkhead looked at the ceiling as he spoke. He seemed to be reminiscing and Kayden wondered if he had told Miko this. "Is it strange to join a side in a war without even knowing the one in charge?"  
Kayden shook her head. "You could at least choose a side." She said. "Here on Earth, you’re mostly stuck in the country you live in."  
"Even if your country is wrong?" Bulkhead asked.  
"Have your heard of the holocaust?" Kayden asked.  
"Miko mentioned it once." Bulkhead said. "Some mass genocide, right?"  
"A single man decided that a certain religion was bad, managed to become the leader of his country and put so much fear in his citizens that they didn't go against him." Kayden explained. "He killed over a million Jewish alone, not including all of the others he prosecuted against because they didn't follow his ideology.   
"His entire country was forced to fight for him, many were too worried about their families to retaliate, many led blindly by false propaganda." Kayden said. "At the end of the war, they lost. They had to watch videos of what their country had put humans through and then they went home. Broken men who were fighting for a wrong cause."  
"What happened to them?" Bulkhead asked.  
"Many killed themselves, unable to live with what they fought for." Kayden said. "I doubt any of them truly recovered."  
"Did any of them try to retaliate?" Bulkhead asked.  
"Some did, many didn't have a good ending though." Kayden said. "That's how wars are."  
"Ain't that the truth." Bulkhead scoffed. "Why do you seem more knowledgeable about this stuff? I thought you studied languages."  
"I told you, war is part of every generation of life." Kayden said. "Though I do prefer learning about ancient wars over the more modern ones. Much less depressing."  
"Is it because of the horse thing?" Bulkhead asked.  
"Yes." Kayden stated.   
"Got any more like that?" Bulkhead asked.  
"Of course." Kayden said. She pondered erred for several seconds about a good story. "A king once knew that his fortress was going to lose. They were outmanned. So when the enemy army arrived, they found the king sitting up on top of the gates with the doors wide open. The enemy army immediately thought it was a trap and turned tail and ran."  
Bulkhead let out a huge laugh, shaking the platform as it bellowed through the base. He grinned up at Kayden. "That man has some balls." He said, using a term that Miko certainly taught him. "Thanks Kayden."  
"Hm?" Kayden asked, tilting her head to the side.  
"I’m feeling much better now." Bulkhead said. He carefully stood up. "I'm going to go back to my therapy."  
"You can do it Bulk." Kayden said.

Several hours later, Kayden opened the ground bridge, allowing Optimus and his team to return. They also brought back someone she didn't recognize. The moment the bridge closed, Kayden gave Optimus a look and pointed at the smaller white mech who was taking in the base like a kid on a field trip.   
"This is Smokescreen, he was the occupant of the escape pod." Optimus said.  
"Where is Bulkhead?" Ratchet asked.  
"Getting the kids." Kayden told him. When she turned back to look at Optimus, she came face to face with Smokescreen, wide optics staring straight at her.  
"Is this one of the humans you told me about?" Smokescreen asked. He carefully poked Kayden on the forehead with a single digit. "It's soft."  
"Smokescreen, this is Kayden." Optimus said. "She is one of the humans who has aided us since our arrival on Earth."  
"And don't poke her." Ratchet added in. "Technically speaking, she outranks you."  
Smokescreen put his hands up. He looked between Ratchet and Kayden and then up to Optimus. "Does she really out rank me?" He asked.  
"Given the fact that Kayden has more battle experience than you and she's a special agent on this planet, I'd say she does." Arcee chimed in. She was less than thrilled about this new wonderboy.   
"So are humans actually really strong then because no offense, but I'm not seeing it." Smokescreen admitted.  
"Strength comes in many forms, Smokescreen." Optimus said. "That is something you will learn here on Earth."  
"I’m so excited! Now that I'm here, the war will be done in no time!" Smokescreen exclaimed.  
A dragging thump drew everyone's attention as Bulkhead arrived with the kids at his pedos. He had a scowl on his faceplate, his optics set on Smokescreen. "Take a good look kid, this is how the wars going." Bulkhead spat. He limped over to a metal grate and took a seat. Miko looked at her buddy before rushing up the stairs to interrogate Smokescreen.  
"What's your story, Smoke? Where did you come from? How did you get here? How many blasters are you packing?" Miko asked in rapid fire.  
"Are they all like this?" Smokescreen asked.  
"Fortunately not." Ratchet said.   
"I vote Jack to give him a tour of the base." Miko said suddenly.  
"Why me?" Jack asked. He'd been about to sit down with no intention of getting up anytime soon after.  
"Because I said so." Miko said.  
"Ugh, fine I'll show him around." Jack said.  
"Make sure to show him the exit." Arcee said. Jack snorted and waited for the new mech to follow him.  
Once Smokescreen was out of audio range, Bulkhead spoke up. "You guys already got a replacement for me?" He asked.  
"Bulkhead we would never consider replacing you." Optimus stated, stepping towards the wrecker.  
"That's right Bulk, no one can take your place!" Miko added in.   
"But Smokescreen-" Bulkhead began.  
"Is a rookie with very little experience." Optimus stated. "I have no intention of allowing him out in battle at this time. He needs to become more accustomed to his life on Earth. Right now, we need your recovery more than anything and we will wait patiently for it."  
Bulkhead wanted to believe the words Optimus was saying. Deep down he did. But a bitter grudge had gotten a grip on him and he just couldn't accept it. Instead he stood up and hobbled towards the hall. Miko followed after him.  
"Should we go after him?" Arcee asked.  
"Bulkhead needs time. He isn't the type to take it well when he is unable to be of help." Optimus said. "Smokescreen's appearance at this time may be both beneficial and a bane."  
"You don’t think Bulk will take this too personally, do you?" Arcee asked.  
"I can only hope that Miko can get through to him better than I can." Optimus added. He turned to Kayden and leaned closer to her. "Though Jack is helping him now, I may need your help with getting Smokescreen accustomed to Earth."  
Kayden glanced back at where Smokescreen and Jack had vanished and let out a sigh. Taking care of Smokescreen sounded like a headache. "Me?" She asked.  
"I can trust you the most with this." Optimus said.  
"Don't say it in a way I can't refuse." Kayden huffed.  
"Thank you, Kayden." Optimus said, giving her a small smile.  
"I hate to break up the fun but I found something I think you should see." Raf said.  
"Bring it up on the large computer." Ratchet said.  
Raf tapped away at his keyboard and pulled up a website where they usually found pictures of Bumblebee. This time it wasn’t a picture of the scout but rather a shot of bright red crystals.  
"It was found at a construction sight." Raf said.   
"Red Energon." Ratchet said.  
"More toxic energon?" Kayden asked.  
"No, red energon is a very rare kind of energon that is said to give you super sonic speed." Ratchet said. "It was believed to have gone extinct eons ago."  
"Rafael, can you find where it was taken to?" Optimus asked.  
"Already on it." Raf said. A few clicks and searches and he brought up a harbor right near Singapore. "Looks like they are planning to ship it out for research."  
"Energon has a negative effect on humans, who knows what red energon could do." Ratchet stated.  
"We must recover it then." Optimus declared.  
"Oh! A mission! Can I join?" Smokescreeb asked. Jack trailed behind him, their tour being over.  
Optimus stared at Smokescreen but shook his helm. "This mission is too risky for a rookie, especially one without an alt mode." He stated. "Arcee, Bumblebee and myself will take care of recovering the red energon. Jack, I want you to accompany Smokescreen in acquiring a vehicle mode."  
"I thought you were putting Kayden in charge of Smokescreen?" Raf asked.  
"Kayden doesn't know where the main road is that gets the most traffic." Optimus stated.  
"That's a polite way of saying she has no sense of direction." Jack snorted.  
"I remember important places." Kayden added.  
"So what was important about that ball park we went to?" Arcee teased.  
"A cadaver stolen from my university was sacrificed there in some weird ritual." Kayden said.  
"Wasn't he already dead?" Jack asked.  
"For his sake I hope so." Kayden added.  
"Whats a cadaver?" Smokescreen asked.  
"Something gross that I'm not explaining so let's go get you an alt mode." Jack said. He did not want to explain that dead humans donated their bodies to science.  
"And we will go have fun stealing from humans." Arcee joked.  
"Please do not word it like that." Optimus said though Raf and Kayden were giggling behind him.  
"Am I wrong?" Arcee asked.  
"...No, but there are better ways of putting it." Optimus stated. Bumblebee let out a few beeps. "Commandeering does sound better."  
"Where did you even learn that?" Arcee asked.   
Their voices faded as they walked through the bridge, cutting off completely once Ratchet pulled the switch. He turned to Raf and Kayden before putting his servos on his hips.  
"Which one of you let Bumblebee watch that Pirate movie?" Ratchet asked.  
"It's a classic Ratchet." Raf said.  
Ratchet scoffed and returned to his work. Miko and Bulkhead finally returned from wherever they had vanished to and Bulkhead seemed less tense since the base was empty again.  
"Where is everyone?" Miko asked, taking a seat next to Kayden on the couch.  
"Optimus, Bumblebee and Arcee are commandeering red energon. Smokescreen and Jack are choosing an alt mode." Kayden said. She heard Ratchet grumble over her choice of words.  
"Well those two are going to be gone for a while. Jasper has nothing when it comes to vehicles." Miko joked.   
"Good, maybe I'll get some quiet around here for once." Ratchet stated, eyeing Miko. The girl simply stuck her tongue out at him.

The day did not end the way Kayden had thought it would. Nowhere even close. A new rookie shows up. Bulkhead became depressed thinking he was going to be replaced and even after everyone assured him that it wasn't the case, said rookie managed to save the day and prove himself. Watching him being welcomed to Team Prime had hurt Bulkhead so bad he walked away. Walked away from Miko who had been doing her best to prevent Bulkhead from feeling that way.   
Kayden watched the two. She didn't feel like watching Smokescreen gloat, even if Arcee's rude comments were entertaining. She was worried about Bulkhead and Miko who was finally getting over her gloom about the big bot. She let out a silent sigh.  
Optimus stepped closer to her, he just caught Bulkhead disappearing around the corner and Miko chasing him.   
"Bulkhead knows he will always have a place on the team." Optimus said. His voice was hushed. He was speaking to her alone. "Right now he just needs time."  
"The sooner he recovers the better." Kayden said.   
"Then we should focus on helping him recover so he knows that is what we want as well." Optimus added.   
"How many codes are left?" Kayden asked  
"Five." Optimus stated. "This last one will take me some time. It was heavily coded compared to the others."  
Kayden hummed and glanced around the base. Her stomach twisted slightly, forming a knot that she had felt before.  
"Is something the matter?" Optimus asked.   
"A gut feeling." Kayden said. "Or as Smokescreen would say, my instinct is telling me something."  
"What does it say?" Optimus pondered.  
"A storm is coming."


	16. Love and Pain

Arcee entered the base after having dropped Jack off at his home. She glanced around and noticed that not a single human was in the base. It had been so long since they had the place to themselves and Arcee couldn't deny that it was somewhat lonely. Though she did find it surprising to see that Kayden was absent. The girl had become almost a permanent resident of the base after graduating. Even Ratchet didn't seem to mind this. Kayden's way to relieve her boredom usually involved reading, napping or fixing up these old books. Very quiet and not at all space consuming.   
"Did Kayden go back to her house?" Arcee asked.   
Bumblebee let out a string of whirls and beeps. Kayden had gone to Chicago for something. What could she be doing up there?  
"Kayden's former professor requested her presence at an event she was hosting." Optimus said. "She had to discuss a place called Atlantis."  
"I thought she left the scholar world behind?" Arcee asked.  
"She has had some lingering attachments, but this was different." Optimus stated.  
"How is it different?" Arcee asked.  
"Kayden did this as a favor for being allowed into her college's artifact vault so we could recover the Aerial Boots." Ratchet explained. "That was the deal she had made."  
"Why didn't she mention this when we were getting them?" Arcee wondered aloud.  
"The event was put on Earth television." Optimus said. "She most likely did not want us to watch."  
"Sounds like you watched." Arcee smirked, placing her servos on her hips.  
Optimus was a bit taken back and glanced away awkwardly. Arcee swore she saw a tinge of blue on his faceplate. She almost found it amusing how such a powerful leader that had gained even her respect could act so normal with someone he loved. Though did this mean he had become aware of his feelings finally? She sure hoped so. As much as they all loved watching Optimus and Kayden dance around obliviously, it had started to become physically painful at just how dense they were.  
"You sure did watch Kayden's speech but do you have any idea what she was actually talking about? Or were you too busy watching her get flustered when she slipped up in her speech?" Ratchet taunted.   
"She did quite well fixing herself when she messed up." Optimus said, trying to avoid the answer. Kayden had a habit of freezing when she stumbled with words or phrases. It was as if her mind was going through all of the different languages she knew to figure out that one word she'd forgotten in English. It was amusing and honestly she was quite cute when she pouted.   
Ratchet narrowed his optics at his old friend. "Optimus if you don't confess to Kayden I’m going to do it for you."  
A flash of panic washed over Optimus’s features. Ratchet wouldn't actually do it, they all knew that but just the idea crossing his processor sent panic through the Prime.   
He couldn't deny that he was slow at processing his own feelings and emotions, more so after becoming a Prime. The matrix suppressed much of his strong emotions but he had been slow even before that. Megatronus had become frustrated at Orion Pax for not realizing how long he'd been flirting with him. Though this time he was certain Kayden wasn't flirting with him and he truly had no idea how she felt in regards to him. He knew she cared about him, she wouldn't have sacrificed so much if she didn't. But how deep did that caring go? And did he have the right to tread on the relationship that they had built with feelings he had just noticed?  
"I intend to discuss things with Kayden when the time is right." Optimus finally admitted. "I do not wish to ruin what we have right now with my one-sided feelings."  
"Well at least you understand yours finally." Ratchet huffed, shaking his helm. "Kayden is another story."  
"What do you mean?" Optimus asked.  
"He means Kayden's as dense as you are." Arcee said with a smile. Bumblebee chirped a laugh as even he could see what Optimus clearly couldn't.  
Optimus frowned, ready to speak when a ring filled his audial receptor. It was Kayden's tone. He put his servo up to quiet the two younger bots as he answered.  
"Kayden?" Optimus asked.  
"Booo! Wrong, wrong! Sorry!" A woman's voice burst through his receptor, loud enough for everyone to hear. Optimus did not recognize this voice.  
"Who is this?" He demanded.  
"Ah, don't need to be on edge, relax relax! I'm professor Dawn, Kayden's teach!" The woman laughed. "Wait, it’s former teacher."  
"Is Kayden alright?" Optimus asked. It took all of his control to keep his voice even.  
"Oh she's fine, just really drunk!" Dawn stuttered as she spoke. "Well so am I."  
"I’m not drunk." Kayden's voice broke through the loud background noise. It was still soft but louder than normal. "I still function."  
"Sure you do." Dawn laughed.  
"Who're you talking to?" Kayden asked.  
"Optimus!" Dawn exclaimed. "He was your most called person so I figured he was your boyfriend."  
"You can’t call him." Kayden muttered.   
"I already did, now shush." Dawn said. "Optimus, sweetie I need to ask you a favor."  
"O-oh, yes? What did you need?" Optimus asked. Dawn had completely thrown him off guard.  
"Kayden is way too drunk to get home on her own and a pretty little thing like her is going to attract the wrong people." Dawn said. Optimus could hear Kayden complain about not being drunk. "Child you had twelve vodka shots, I can't believe you're still conscious."  
"Make it thirteen!" Kayden shouted.  
"Why thirteen?" Dawn asked, laughing as Kayden burst into an uncontrollable giggle fit. "Kayden is so fun when she's drunk, has she ever gotten drunk for you Optimus?"  
"She has not, Kayden rarely drinks." Optimus said. "What did you need to ask of me?"  
"Oh right! Can you come pick up Kayden and take her home?" Dawh asked. "I don’t want to just throw her in a cab, you know?"  
"Of course, I can come immediately." Optimus aaid. "Do you require a lift as well?"   
"Aww that’s so sweet of you! Kayden your boyfriend is a total sweetheart, you know that? Are you asleep?" Dawn rambled for a few seconds before remembering Optimus was still on the phone. "Oh but I'm good, I've got a ride for this evening!"  
"Understood. I will be there shortly." Optimus said.  
He was about to disconnect and request Ratchet to ground bridge him to Chicago but Dawn obviously hadn't ended the call and hadn't noticed that she hadn’t either. Her voice came in loud and clear as she talked to Kayden.  
"Kayden your boyfriend has a sexy voice!" Dawn cooed. "How can you listen to that all day and actually know what he says?"  
There was silence for several seconds before the call was abruptly canceled. The three Autobots present at the base all looked at Optimus awkwardly. Optimus turned to Ratchet, his face hiding any second hand embarrassment he could be feeling from the conversation he'd over heard.   
"Ratchet please bridge me to Chicago, I will return with Kayden shortly." Optimus said.  
The medic nodded and did as asked. He wasn't going to say anything and be the one to break the ice on the situation. This was as awkward as it comes and he knew that Optimus no longer had anything to say on the matter. 

Chicago was busy even at night and it took Optimus some time to get to the hotel where Kayden was at. He was honked at several times as his alt mode was not well liked by drivers in the bigger cities. As he finally came up to the hotel, he noted several humans who were unsteady on their feet or being overly loud.   
It seemed that whether they were human or cybertronian, people all acted similar when highly entoxicated.  
It wasn’t hard to spot Kayden on the sidewalk. Even drunk she stood up right and had an aura about her that made her stand out from the others. Someone was draped across her shoulders; most likely her professor. As he pulled up in front of the two, a man walked up to help take Dawn off of her.  
Kayden had a small smile on her face and under the bright street light, Optimus could see that she was flushed. Dawn lifted her head abruptly and gave the tractor trailer cab before her a long stare.  
"Your boyfriend drives a tractor trailer." Dawn stated. "That’s almost as sexy as his voice."  
"You are plastered." Dawn's husband said.  
"So is Kayden!" Dawn interrupted. "Act drunk!"  
Kayden scowled and walked towards Optimus. She gave the professor a wave before climbing up and collapsing on the seats. Her legs and hands were shaking and a giggle was in her throat that she was trying to hold back.  
"Are you alright, Kayden?" Optimus asked. The girl stayed lying down but he began the drive out of the city. "You drank quite a bit from the sound of it."  
"Thirteen vodka shots." Kayden giggled. "I made a mistake!"  
"Thirteen shots of anything is a mistake." Optimus ex-vented. "What made you drink so much?"  
"I can't even remember." Kayden admitted.  
Kayden covered her eyes as the bright green swirl engulfed them. She started to feel sick the moment she saw it and the last thing she wanted to do was vomit inside Optimus’s cab. When they exited the bridge, Kayden saw stars instead of the base.   
Sitting up, she leaned towards the window to see that they were driving through the Nevada desert. Optimus rolled down his window and the cold air felt like heaven to Kayden.  
"I figured you would feel better after a short drive." Optimus said.  
Kayden leaned against his door and smiled. Her hair was being pushed back and she closed her eyes. She could fall asleep here.  
"Optimus you're such a softie." She said. "Always so sweet and caring. Always worried about others. That's why I love you."  
Optimus nearly slammed on his brakes when he heard Kayden say those words. He couldn't stop his engine from stuttering a bit.   
"Kayden, did you mean what you just said?" Optimus asked. His tone was hesitant. He knew she was drunk but he also remembered June explaining how being drunk made it easier for someone to speak and so most of what is said when drunk is a person's true feelings.  
"Of course." Kayden said easily. "I don’t think I'd know what to do with myself if you suddenly vanished."  
Optimus felt his spark swell. Kayden returned the affections he felt towards her. He hadn't even confessed to his own feelings and she'd admitted to her own. Yes she was drunk, but maybe, just maybe she'd remember this awkward confession tomorrow. But right now he'd want to tell her his own feelings, get them off of his chassis. But when he focused back on Kayden, he found the girl fast asleep on his open window.   
He felt disheartened by this. But he felt more courage in him now than before. Kayden recuperated his feelings. It would be so much easier to confess after knowing this.

Kayden woke up the next day with a pounding headache and feeling like absolute shit. She groaned as she opened her eyes and immediately covered them with her arm. The lights were way too bright for her.   
"Well look who finally woke up." June said.  
Kayden glanced at the woman from behind her arm and let out a grunt of protest. June simply huffed and placed something cold on her forehead.  
"You're hungover." June said. "Have you learned a lesson about excessive drinking?"  
"Don’t fragging do it." Kayden groaned.   
Kayden sat up slightly, feeling for the cold object on her forehead. It was a wet towel that was dripping slightly and that was the best sensation she could feel right now.   
"I'll let you off with that." June said. "Be grateful its a weekday."  
"You mean be grateful Miko isn't here." Ratchet scoffed.  
June suppressed a laugh and looked back to Kayden. The girl was sitting up more but keeping the cold towel to her forehead. She looked tired and that was the best way to describe it.   
"Do you remember anything that happened?" June asked.  
"I remember taking shots and getting into Optimus’s cab but nothing else." Kayden sighed. "I was too drunk to remember why I even got drunk."  
Optimus felt his vents stress slightly. He'd been eavesdropping on the conversation ever since Kayden woke up. She seemed to be in pain and he hadn't wanted to make it worse. But hearing that she'd forgotten the events of the night before was… upsetting. That felt like the right word for how he felt. Ratchet seemed to catch the slight change in the Prime's expression but he didn't act on it. What happened between the two of them was between the two of them.

A couple more hours of rest was all Kayden needed for her hangover to pass. For the most part at least. She still felt a bit heavy headed but the throbbing stopped and so did her headache. She was standing now, leaned up against the railing as June told her about eating properly when drinking. The whole middle school alcohol lecture all over again and she was not into it.  
A beeping noise from the computer was an annoyance to Kayden's head but it shut up June. So a welcome annoyance that she gladly turned her attention to.  
"Decepticons?" Smokescreen asked.   
Ratchet opened the location, revealing a deep cavern in the Rocky Mountains in South America.  
"No, it’s a weak energon signal. Nothing really worth worrying about." Ratchet said.  
"It still may be worth checking." Optimus stated.   
"Who will you send?" Bulkhead asked.   
"I will go myself." Optimus said. "I have been stuck on this code and I believe I need to 'clear my processor' as it goes."  
He glanced through the group. Smokescreen seemed to be oozing impatience but Optimus wasn't quite sure that he wanted to bring the rookie into such an unknown situation just yet. Smokescreen had good instincts but he needed to learn how to understand them. His optics stopped at Kayden who was waiting much more patiently than their new recruit. If only Smokescreen had even a small amount of Kayden's patience.  
"I'd like to go." Kayden said, raising her hand. "I need fresh air."  
"Then go outside the base." June said.  
"Fresh non-desert air." Kayden countered.   
"I do not mind you coming." Optimus said. He offered his servo to her. Kayden climbed over the railing and stepped onto his hand with practiced ease.  
"Can I go-" Smokescreen started to speak up but had his mouth covered by Bumblebee's servo. Both the scout and Arcee yanked the rookie away from Optimus and Kayden.  
"Be quiet. Those two need private time and you are not getting in their way." Arcee scolded softly. Smokescreen released a confused noise.  
Optimus stayed in his bipedal form as he carried Kayden through the ground bridge. The moment they exited the bridge, hot and sticky air clung to them. A fresh smell of forest and rain washed over Kayden and the girl stretched her body out. This environment was very comforting with the hot weather, colorful scenery and the strange call of birds and who knew what else.  
"This is fresh air." Kayden sighed. She sat down and got comfortable on Optimus’s servo. stretching out her arms. Optimus watched her with a small smile.  
"Ratchet said that a cave entrance should be nearby." Optimus stated.  
They walked in silence for several minutes. The mechanical sound of Optimus’s foot steps sounded out of place in the lush jungle. But Kayden found the sound soothing. Finally a crack in the rocky wall came into view. It looked like someone had slashed open the mountain but the opening was large enough for even Optimus to go through.   
Optimus knelt down, using his headlights to illuminate the entrance. He could make out the shape of bats and stalactites but the cave was big enough for him to walk through. He paused for a second and glanced down at Kayden. The girl was staring eagerly into the cave, the earlier hangover completely forgotten for the idea of a new adventure.   
"Kayden, did you truly forget what happened last night?" Optimus asked. He carefully moved into the cave and looked back down at her.  
Kayden stared up at Optimus with wide eyes. He had caught her off guard, she was surprised. "What did I say?" Kayden asked. Her voice was a bit panicked. Had she done something stupid? Embarrassing? Offensive?  
Optimus let air out of his vents slowly. Was he doing this right? He gently placed Kayden on a rock shelf in the cave that sat at near optic level with him. Once Kayden turned to him, Optimus leaned in closer.  
"You admitted… that you held affections towards me." Optimus said carefully.  
Kayden froze, eyes focused on his optics and her face turned a deep shade of red. After several seconds, Kayden covered her face with her hands, curled into a ball and let out a string of unintelligible sounds. Optimus wasn't sure how to react to such a thing and he became worried that he had chosen the wrong method of approaching this.  
"I'm sorry." Kayden said. Optimus felt his spark stop.  
"You do not feel for me in such a way?" Optimus asked. He didn't want to know the answer.  
"No… it’s not that." Kayden stuttered. "Not that, I just… I didn't want to say it like that."  
Optimus just watched Kayden, letting her take her time. His spark was pulsing again.  
"I wanted to say it properly… I'm bad at that. I-" Kayden took a deep breath and muttered things under her breath that Optimus didn't even try to understand. "Sorry, you don't need this right now."  
"I don’t need what?" Optimus questioned.  
"You don’t need a human having feelings for you in the middle of a war." Kayden said. She looked up at Optimus. Her face was still flushed but she looked almost pained.  
"Then do you not need a robotic autonomic organism holding affection for you?" Optimus asked.  
"What?" Kayden asked.  
"I hold affections for you as well." Optimus said. "I have been debating with myself over if I should tell you or not. I was… afraid-"  
"Of ruining what we had?" Kayden finished.   
Optimus nodded. A blue tinged his face plate and he hoped Kaydem couldn’t tell. He watched her, watched her face go from shock to being perplexed to being embarrassed. She covered her mouth with her hands, but Optimus could see the way her cheeks lifted ever so slightly. She was smiling.   
"So does this mean we are together?" Kayden asked. She scratched at her cheek.  
"I believe we can state that." Optimus said. "Though I am unsure of how human romantic relationships work. What customs do you have?"  
"Can’t we just keep doing what we do now?" Kayden asked.  
"What we do now?" Optimus questioned.  
"Reading together, sharing stories, playing word games." Kayden said. "Can’t we just keep doing these things?"  
Optimus smiled and gently placed his servo behind Kayden. His digits nudged her forward slightly so he could gently kiss the top of her head.   
"I would truly enjoy that." Optimus said. He let one servo gently stroke Kayden's back. She enjoyed the touch and carefully put her small hand on his thumb and gave Optimus a warm smile that had his vents releasing a rush of air.

Kayden decided to walk along the rock shelf instead of her usual place on Optimus’s shoulder. She used the excuse that she wanted to walk but in truth, she needed to clear her head. Getting her feelings across to Optimus and him returning the feelings had been the best news she’d had in years. She was happier than she'd ever been. But the kiss had thrown her for a complete loop and if she was a computer she'd be throwing a 404 error.   
Embarrassment, happiness, confusion all swirled inside of her and she hoped Optimus hadn't thought she'd been upset about it. Honestly Kayden wouldn't complain if Optimus chose to kiss her again.  
These thoughts swirled through Kayden's head until she caught sight of a large, flat rock portion with large carvings throughout it. She stopped and stared at it before looking up to Optimus who wasn't there. Kayden quickly looked around the cave.   
The rock shelf was coming to an end as the path opened into a large cavern. Multiple paths connected to the opening but only a couple would give someone a view of the carvings. Optimus wasn't in any of them which means Kayden had gotten separated when she was stressing over the kiss. Now she felt like a stupid school girl and felt very embarrassed.   
Part of Kayden wanted to go and find her mech but she knew her sense of direction was awful and that she'd most likely get even more lost. Her phone had no connection either so Kayden sat down on the edge of the rock shelf and began to translate the carvings.  
It hadn’t taken her long to recognize that the characters were Cybertronian. Which would explain why they were written so large and up high. She used her phone flashlight to illuminate the characters, slowly translating in her head as she began to hear the mechanical sound of large feet. Kayden's mind instantly labeled them as being Optimus but something sounded off.  
Turning to the direction of the foot steps, Kayden stopped her greeting as Megatron entered the opening of the cave. He was meters away and hadn't noticed Kayden who sat in his blind spot. Megatron glanced around, his optics landing on the cybertronian characters. He walked towards them and traced a claw over their words.   
"A surprise find and no way for me to read it." Megatron spoke aloud.  
Kayden knew she should've stayed quiet. She knew better than to speak up. But before she could stop herself, she read aloud what the stone carvings said.  
"To the ones this message refers. For the record of this planet lives creatures born of chaos. Be warned their existence for warfare is not to be taken lightly." Kayden said loud enough for Megatron to hear.  
The tyrant turned to her in surprise, thoroughly caught off guard. If Kayden had been an assassin, she was certain that she'd have been able to land quite a blow against Megatron just then.  
"Well now this is a surprise." Megatron grinned, spreading his arms out. "Optimus’s special pet is out of the base and all alone."  
"Optimus is here." Kayden stated, not revealing that she honestly had no idea where he was.  
"I thank you for translating these words but do tell, what do they mean?" Megatron asked. Kayden frowned. "Come now little one, surely you are intelligent enough to understand this message if Optimus deemed you worthy enough to learn our ancient language."  
It was bait and Kayden took it hook line and sinker.  
"To the ones this message refers, means that this is meant for someone who could read ancient cybertronian." Kayden stated.  
"Someone like Optimus?" Megatron pondered.  
"Or Alpha Trion." Kayden stated.  
"And is this some ancient message to the Head of Iacon?" Megatron suggested.  
"No." Kayden said. "I’m not good at carbon dating but this is maybe a few thousand years old. It's from the time of your war. When you hid energon on Earth."  
Megatron gave Kayden a nod, offering her to continue. She did, this wasn't new information to them. Megatron would gain nothing from this.  
"The rest is self-explanatory." Kayden said. "A creature on this planet is very good at fighting wars."  
"Now that is interesting." Megatron stated, tapping a claw to his faceplate. "Tell me pet, what such creature is this message speaking of?"  
"Humans."   
Megatron turned to face Kayden completely with an expression like he had been entirely offended by what she had said. His brow plates were quirked in confusion mixed with a sort of disbelief that she'd seen on the faces of professors who had been corrected by a student. Kayden stayed sitting, legs swaying slightly to show not a hint of fear to the warlord before her.   
"Explain, human, how this could be referring to your species." Megatron demanded.  
Kayden sighed, giving herself enough seconds to collect her thoughts. "Chaos refers to Unicron. This planet was built around Unicron which means us humans are technically children, sparklings, of Unicron." Kayden said. She watched as Megatron became perplexed before beginning to understand. "Our species has only existed for a few thousand years, but ever since we gained sentience, we have been fighting each other.   
"Racism, territory, resources and religion. We fight over anything that makes us different from each other. Generations of war after war. Some small, some engulf the entire planet. Genocides where millions to billions have died. This planet is soaked in blood." Kayden looked down at her hands.  
"How fitting for creations of Unicron." Megatron stated. "Though how pathetically small."  
"But we are creative." Kaydeb countered. "We've come up with ways of fighting that you all would never consider."  
Megatron huffed, definitely taking offense from that. He was the lord of darkness, the tyrant that plunged cybertron into chaos. He wasn't going to be out warfared by an organic creature that goes squish from being stepped on.  
"So is this message some pathetic Autobot warning about you humans?" Megatron asked.   
"No, it’s a warning about the center of this planet being Unicron." Kayden corrected. "Whoever wrote this figured it out several thousand years ago but couldn't let anyone know. So he wrote a code."  
"And yet you have translated this code to the leader of the Decepticons." Megatron taunted. He leaned over Kayden with a sharp grin.  
"Yes, but you already knew about Unicron." Kayden said with an even smile. "So I didn't reveal anything."  
Kayden barely caught the movement of Megatron's fist as the warlord brought it down on her. She had managed to shove herself off the cliff before it crumbled under his strength. The Aerial Boots activated and caught Kayden in midair but she was still too close to the angered gladiator for comfort.  
"I suggest you don't get cocky, pet." Megatron spat. Kayden scowled and flew back into the large opening as Megatron attempted to grab her. "It seems you've managed to put those failure of a weapon to good use. But what could they possibly do to help you in this situation?"  
Absolutely nothing.   
Kayden knew that. Every bit of her knew that she was in the worse position she'd ever been. Even being face to face with a bomb wasn't as nervewracking as being face to face with Megatron and not having someone to bail her out. She had hoped that she'd be able to distract him long enough for Optimus to find her but that obviously didn't happen.   
Kayden reached the center of the opening in just seconds and took just another second to decide which exit to take. Her instincts told her to go through a larger one, even if it meant Megatron could follow. But her instincts ran slower than Megatron's trained body as he slammed Kayden down to the rock floor.  
Kayden gasped for air after it was knocked out of her. Her chest burned as alarms shot through her brain and her body informed her strongly that she was in pain. She was on her back, looking up at the glowing red optics of a titan that had run out of patience with her and wanted her dead.  
"If Optimus is truly here, I wonder what his face will look like when he sees your mangled corpse in front of me." Megatron said with a grin that sent a shiver up Kayden's spine.  
Megatron's hand lifted slightly and Kayden took that moment. With the boots activated, she kicked his hand up, having enough force to raise it high enough for her to kick herself out from under him. She skidded to a stop several meters out of his reach. Megatron would have to lunge to reach her and Kayden hoped she'd be able to act before he did.  
Megatron seemed more impressed at her escape than angered. A smirk flashed on his features before he raised his fusion cannon and let off a single shot. Kayden cursed at herself for expecting Megatron to not use gunfire and flew up as fast as she could.   
Megatron's optics locked onto Kayden the moment she exited the dust of his first blast. He aimed and shot several more blasts at the small human, expecting at least one to hit. Instead, Kayden turned her bodies in ways Megatron couldn't understand and dodged every single shot.  
"I’m impressed." Megatron stated. He lowered his gun and watched as Kayden floated, still out of his reach. "But also such a waste."  
"What is?" Kayden asked, letting out a deep breath. Twisting around to dodge shots was harder than she thought. She was out of breath.   
"You being a human." Megatron stated. "Intelligent, quick witted and fearless. With proper training you'd make a fine warrior. But you are trapped in such a weak and tiny form."   
Kayden frowned. She didn't like what Megatron was implying but she also couldn't deny what he said. She would've been better off being born a Cybertronian. That was a thought she felt multiple times. Not just with Optimus, but with the war in general. She was useless as a human.  
Trapped in her own thoughts, Kayden failed to notice Megatron lunge forward. He swung his arm and she felt the collision but couldn't process it until she crumbled to the ground.   
Black vision, bright spots. She couldn’t breath, her mouth tasted like rust. She was light headed, the world was spinning. She felt sick, she felt like she was on fire.  
Blood. There was blood on the ground, on her hands.   
Someone was speaking. It was her name.  
She could barely see. 

Optimus was frantic, distraught, panicked and whatever term you could use when you watch your loved one get hit by a titan made of metal. Anger had washed over Optimus, an anger he hadn't felt in eons. An anger that caused him to plow straight into Megatron and send the larger mech flying into a tunnel. He hadn't even checked to see if Megatron had been knocked down. Kayden needed his attention.  
Optimus knelt before the girl, worry filling every bolt inside of him. She was on her knees, eyes staring but unable to focus. She was bleeding from her head heavily. It was dripping off her cheek and pooling at her feet. He didn't think she could even see him right then.   
Optimus gently cupped Kayden into his servos. She reached out her bloodied hand, placing it against his palm. He was hoping she'd been coming around but instead Kayden slumped against his servo, unconscious. Panic rose in Optimus again as he called for a ground bridge. Megatron appeared in the corner of his optics but he didn't pay the mech a single thought as he rushed through the green swirl.  
"Optimus what ha-" Ratchet began but Optimus pushed past him and held Kayden up in front of June. Thank Primus the nurse stayed.  
"She is bleeding from the head and unconscious." Optimus said swiftly. Was his voice even? Most likely not.   
June didn't hesitate to yell at Jack to get her medical kit and for Ratchet to call Agent Fowler about a military hospital. She climbed onto Optimus’s servo, using the towels Miko had thrown at her to try and stop the bleeding. Everyone stayed as silent, waiting to hear what they needed to do. The Autobots stood back, staring hard at their leader's servos. They couldn't quite make out Kayden but a deep red liquid dripping from between his digits was all they needed to know.   
"What happened?" Fowler demanded over the video com.  
"I need a room at your military hospital now!" June said.  
"We are ready for you!" Fowler said, looking at Optimus.  
"Megatron got her." Optimus finally said.   
The kids were getting a medical bed ready at the ground bridge. He carefully lowered Kayden and June down to the bed and watched as Jack helped get her onto the bed.   
"Explain better when we get back." June demanded. She pushed Kayden through the ground bridge with Jack and Miko following behind her.  
Optimus stood frozen where he stood. So many thoughts, scenarios, situations had spun through his processor. He had been slow to notice Kayden's absence, but he knew she was smart and figured he'd find her eventually. Only he walked in on Megatron attacking her. He should've been more careful.  
"Optimus?" Ratchet placed his hand on the shoulder of his old friend. Optimus almost flinched at the sudden flinch. "Are you alright?"  
Optimus turned to Ratchet before looking through the members of his team and then down to his hand. "I-I will be alright." Optimus stated. He wasn't fooling anyone.  
"What was Megatron doing down there?" Arcee asked.   
"Must've got the ping like we did and decided to check it out." Bulkhead said.  
Bumblebee let out a whirl of beeps. Ratchet shook his helm. "I took apart the signal we got. It had traces of dark energon in it." He said. "Megatron must've sensed this and went to investigate."  
"I thought dark energon was a myth." Smokescreen stated.  
"Okay who wants to tell wonder boy about the boogie man in the center of the planet?" Arcee asked.

***

It took hours for June to finally contact the base with an update on Kayden. Jack and Miko had been sent back the moment she'd entered surgery. They now gathered along with Raf and the Autobots to hear what happened.  
"We're all here, you can continue." Ratchet said.  
"Okay, the good news is, Kayden's surgery was a success and she is currently resting." June said. "Her life is no longer in danger."   
The Autobots all ex-vented as the kids celebrated and high fived each other. "What is the bad news then?" Ratchet was hesitant to ask.  
"Head trauma can have a multitude of side effects from blindness, black outs and memory loss." June said. "We won't know anything until she wakes up but given the cause of her injuries, I'd say we should be shocked Kayden only got a broken skull."  
"Can humans live with a broken skull?" Miko asked.  
"We can, it isn't crushed so her skull will heal." June replied.  
"What do you mean by memory loss?" Optimus asked.   
"It is very common for humans to not remember traumatic incidents such as car crashes or other similar events." June explained. "This could either be caused from the injuries or the shock of the accident. Kayden could forget ever seeing Megatron, she could forget the entire day or she could have forgotten the last several months."  
"Are her memories gone for good?" Ratchet asked.  
"Not necessarily. I say they are gone but it's more like our brains hide the incident." June said. "She could be forced to remember through shock therapy but that would probably involve Megatron."  
"I don't want to hear anything about Megatron being near Kayden or the children for a long time." Fowler said.  
"I apologize Agent Fowler, this was my fault." Optimus said.  
"Prime I’m not angry at you for this, I should be, but I'm not." Fowler said. "Right now we just need to take a step back, breath and wait for Kayden to wake up."  
"She may not lose her memories at all!" June tried to reassure them. She had noticed how stressed Optimus seemed about that.   
"Kayden's tough! She won't let Megatron beat her." Miko added in.   
Optimus looked down at Miko and nodded. How he wished he could feel as optimistic about this situation as the young girl did.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This sat unfinished for so long but I finally got it written!


	17. From Your Stars to Mine

"Can everyone hear me?" June asked. She adjusted the volume of her cell phone speaker. Despite being part of some big government secret with technologically advanced sentient robots, military hospitals still had bad cell phone service.   
"We can hear you just fine Nurse Darby." Ratchet said. On his side, the Autobots were gathered around the computer along with their human companions.  
"Okay good!" June placed the phone on speaker and held it up to Kayden.   
The girl looked better than you'd expect someone who was hit by a titan made of metal to look. She was sitting up and rather relaxed. Her face was bruised and swollen though, bandages wrapped around the large laceration over her left eye that would sadly leave quite a scar. Though as usual, Kayden stayed silent.  
"You need to say something so they know it's you." June said with a frown.  
Kayden turned to look her dead in the eye. "Something." She repeated.  
"Thats no-"   
"KAYDEN!!"  
A blast of noise came through the phone, interrupting June and causing the woman to hold the phone away from them. Miko's voice was clear as day, being the loudest, but Kayden recognized the others as well. The girl couldn't help but smile at how excited her family was to hear her.  
The following moments were followed with everyone asking questions over each other. Kayden could make out some of them but decided to keep quiet.  
"Be quiet all of you!" Ratchet shouted. Silence followed as the old mech's ex-vent could be heard from over the cellphone speaker. Kayden repressed a giggle while June seemed to appear sympathetic to the other medic.  
"Since none of you can function properly, I'll be asking the questions." Ratchet scolded. He earned several boos from Miko and Bumblebee. "Nurse Darby, how is Kayden's condition in regards to… her memories?"  
The atmosphere of the base went tense. Humans held their breath and robots held their gears. Kayden glanced at June who nodded in understanding.  
"There are no signs of any memory loss." June said.  
This time an audible sigh of relief could be heard. Ratchet looked back at Optimus who loosened his shoulders for the first time since Kayden was attacked.   
"I am glad to hear that you are alright, Kayden." Optimus said. How he wished he could see her.  
"Sorry for making you worry." Kayden said.  
"Hey, when can you come home?" Miko asked.  
"Kayden needs to have another test or two done first." June replied. "Her life isn't in any danger but there is a side effect of the injuries that we need to have looked at."  
"Is it serious?" Optimus asked.  
"I want to tell you in person when the tests are done." Kayden said.   
"Understood. Please return soon." Optimus said.  
The call disconnected and the team began to disperse into small groups. Miko already started talking about a party for Kayden while Ratchet and Optimus remained by the computer. Ratchet glanced up at the taller mech before pretending to focus on something else.  
"You were quite stressed over the whole memory loss threat." Ratchet said quietly.  
"It would have been upsetting had she forgotten…" Optimus stated. He pulled up the Iacon code, finally able to focus on it.  
"Forgotten what?" Ratchet asked. Optimus stayed silent. "Did you finally tell her?"  
Optimus glanced down at his friend and gave a curt nod. "I'd like to keep it a secret for Kayden's own well being." He said.  
"Oh thank Primus you finally said it." Ratchet ex-vented. "And Kayden's reply?"  
Optimus’s cheeks tinged blue and that was all Ratchet need to know. How long had it been since he'd seen Optimus look so awkward but with so much life. His last love had ended so badly, so cruelly. It caused a war that tore apart their home planet and caused Optimus to close his spark off from others. Ratchet had always hoped that Optimus would open up again. And he did, to a small human who just wants to read books and go on long drives. Someone who wanted to take Optimus away from the war, even if for just an hour or two.   
And Ratchet was happy. Happy for his old friend. 

It was late in the evening when June's car came through the ground bridge. She parked it away from the platform and the moment Kayden stepped out, she was bombarded by the kids. Miko hugged her tightly and even Jack gave her an awkward hug.   
"You gave us all a scare." Jack said.  
"Getting knocked around by Megatron wasn't my idea." Kayden said.  
"Okay you can be sarcastic about your near death experience later." June said. She began to herd the kids towards the platform. "We need to talk to them about that."  
The kids obliged but stuck together as they hurried up the stairs. Up top, piles of junk food, pizza and movies were stacked onto the coffee table. Miko and Raf gave Kayden a peace sign before pushing her over to Optimus and Ratchet.  
"Okay let's get the serious talk out of the way so we can get to partying." Miko said.  
Optimus stepped closer and leaned down. He gave Kayden a smile as a greeting before turning to June. "You said that there was a side effect of Kayden's injuries?" He asked.  
June nodded. "It's not life threatening but it is serious." She said.  
"I'm blind in my left eye." Kayden said easily. She didn't intend to bounce around the subject but seeing Optimus’s shocked face made her wish she'd approached the topic differently.  
"Blind as in you can't see out of it?" Jack asked. Several pieces of guase were stuck to Kayden's forehead. Much of it was covered by her hair.  
"How did this happen?" Ratchet asked. "Can't it be fixed? Repair surgery? Optic replacement?"  
June shook her head. "Human eyes don't work like that." She said. "While we can do cornea transplants, vision relies heavily on the cones and rods in our eyes and the nerves connecting our eyes to our brain.  
"In Kayden's case, the nerves to her left eye were severed in the attack and no surgery could fix that." June said. "Luckily her eye is still alive but the brain can't get the information it takes in."  
"So what do you see with it?" Miko asked, waving her hand on Kayden's bad side.  
"It's kind of like having an eye patch on." Kayden stated.  
"Is there a chance it will heal over time?" Optimus asked. He was asking Nurse Darby but his optics were on Kayden. Why was she so okay with this?  
"No. The percentage is so small that it's not even able to be registered." June stated.  
Optimus frowned but turned his attention back to June. "Thank you Nurse Darby." He said. "Though half her sight is gone, Kayden is still alive and healthy thanks to you being here that day."  
"Is this going to limit Kayden in anyway?" Ratchet asked. "She's not exactly careful as it is."  
"Her range of sight is now limited to just her right eye. She won't be able to see anything coming at her from her left side." June explained. "Her peripheral vision will also be greatly impacted."  
"What is peripheral vision?" Ratchet asked.  
"It's how our eyes tell distance." June said. "Basically she won't be able to kick or throw a ball accurately as before."  
Optimus looked up to Kayden to talk to her but Miko had already dragged them away. The young girl had decided that serious talk was over and party time had started. He frowned but decided to wait. He'd get a chance to talk to Kayden in private. 

The night dragged on as food was eaten, movies were watched, games were played and fights were won. The children had long since fallen asleep, Arcee and Smokescreen were out on patrol while the others locked themselves up to recharge. Optimus stood in the quiet base and watched as Kayden covered the kids up in blankets. She seemed wide awake despite it being past midnight.   
Optimus walked up to her, trying to lighten his foot steps so not to wake the children. Kayden lifted her head towards him and stepped closer so that they could talk in hush words.   
"Did you want to go for a drive?" Optimus asked. He pointed a digit to the roof. Kayden practically beamed as she trotted to the railing and climbed onto his offered servos.   
The elevator ride to the top was silent. They wished to save the conversation for the stars. It had become more and more common for their little private times to involve the roof instead of an actual drive to the desert. It was closer and easier to access but no one really had a reason to go there other than Agent Fowler.   
The moment the doors opened, Optimus let Kayden down as he walked to the edge. He lied down with practiced ease and Kayden took her spot on the ground by his helm. For minutes they silently watched the stars twinkle in the clear sky. A red blinking light interrupting the calm to remind them of artificial objects being in the sky. It wasn't until an airplane began to fly past that Optimus spoke.  
"How did we get separated in the cave?" He asked. His tone was not accusing her of anything, just curious.  
"I wasn't paying attention." Kayden admitted.   
"Did you try to fight Megatron?" Optimus asked.  
"Do I look that careless?" Kayden asked in return.  
Optimus turned to Kayden. "I know you are the type to try and fight a Decepticon if you deem it necessary." He accused.  
Kayden smiled but shook her head. "I just did my best to stay out of his reach." She said.  
Optimus seemed relieved by this. Was he happy to know that his human love wasn't trying to fight Megatron? Or was he relieved that she hadn't pissed off Megatron in a way that would cause the warlord to target her specifically?  
"I found something down there." Kayden said.  
"What was it?" Optimus asked.  
"A message in ancient cybertronian. It was only a few thousand years old." Kayden turned to Optimus. "It was a warning about Unicron."  
Optimus frowned and stayed silent as he processed the information. "Ratchet mentioned that the energon signal we received had dark energon in it." He said. "It could be that somewhere on Earth exists a direct path to Unicron."  
"And someone found it during the energon hoarding part of the war?" Kayden asked.  
"Someone from Iacon." Optimus confirmed. "If we could figure out who was on Earth at that time, we may be able to find the entrance to Unicron and seal it."  
"By going through old war records?" Kayden asked.  
"Yes but we do not have any time during our current predicament." Optimus ex-vented.  
"I can go through them." Kayden offered. "I've read through similar types of documents before."  
Optimus smiled softly at Kayden. She had sat up now to talk and so he lifted his servo to stroke her hair gently. "That would be a great help." He said.  
Kayden placed her hand on the digit that was gently pressed against her head. She leaned against it, enjoying the feeling of cool metal on a hot desert night. Optimus seemed enamored by the small bit of affection that Kayden was giving him. He stayed silent and watched as she gently kissed the tip of his smallest digit.  
"What are you thinking about?" Kayden asked. She glanced up at the large mech with her good eye.  
"I am… still trying to take in the severity of your injuries." Optimus admitted. "I feared you would lose your memories but instead you lost your sight."  
"Only half of my sight." Kayden corrected. "There are plenty of humans who can only see out of one eye."  
"Is that why you are not… upset about it?" Optimus asked.  
"I'm sad I lost my eye, but I don't plan to make a dramatic scene about it." Kayden admitted. "It's also hard to be upset with Miko being jealous of my new battle scar."  
"I had hoped none of you would ever gain scars from being with us." Optimus sat up and leaned over Kayden slightly. "I do not like seeing you hurt.  
"I don't like seeing you hurt either." Kayden countered. "But all of us are scarred up."  
"But I never see you with large injuries." Optimus said.  
"Miko has quite a few on her legs and arms from falling down and shrapnel from the fights. Jack has a deep one on his cheekbone from Arachnia and some on his back." Kayden listed off. "Raf has an electric like scar on his back from Megatron and a couple on his knees. I have my forehead one and a few on my hands and arms."  
"Does that not upset you?" Optimus asked. "That you have scars from our war?"  
Kayden shook her head. She pulled her knees up and pointed to a slightly faded discoloration on her right knee.   
"I fell when I was a kid." She told him. "I busted my knee open and you can still see the scar."  
She held out her arm to this weird splotches of dark skin on her forearm. "Oil burns from my first time cooking." Kayden explained. "I’ve got a couple of scars on my foot from when I stepped on a nail and it went through it."  
"Are you trying to say that humans, human children, commonly get scars due to their… recklessness?" Optimus asked.  
"Yes." Kayden said. "To us, scars are simply part of growing up for us. In years to come, we'll sit together, point at them and laugh at our own stupidity."  
"You can laugh about scars gained during a war you shouldn't have ever been a part of?" Optimus asked.   
"We can laugh because we don't regret joining this war." Kayden told him. "We fight for you and the Autobots. So we'll wear our scars. And once the war is done, we'll joke about how we got them."  
"I believe that this is some human trait that I cannot understand." Optimus said.  
"That's fine. You don't have to understand." Kayden said. "Just try not to get too upset when we return with cuts and bruises. Jack's mom does that enough."  
Optimus watched Kayden fondly for several kliks. She was relaxed, leaned up against his hand like it was the safest place for her to be. And at that moment, Optimus believed that in his hands, she was in the safest place in the universe.   
"When this war is over." Optimus muttered. "We will have to part ways then."  
Kayden frowned, eyes glazing over and a slight quirk of her eyebrow gave away the sadness that that sentence had filled her with. Optimus wanted to apologize but he couldn't deny this truth that they both had to face. For several kliks they stayed in a heavy silence before Kayden looked up at the sky.   
"From your stars to mine. We'll always be connected." She said.   
Optimus looked up at the sky above them, taking in the stars that were swallowing them up. How he wanted to drown in the sky, float into space and see where the galaxy decided to take him. Instead he looked down at the small human, even smaller than the stars who watched him with soft, loving eyes.  
"From your stars to mine." Optimus repeated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is the last chapter! Thank you so much to everyone who read and supported me! I loved getting all of the kudos and reading the comments ♡♡
> 
> I was originally going to also include the Beast Hunter section but I felt that this was a good place for this story to end.


End file.
